Age is just a Number
by RiversEdge
Summary: Jean Grey and her young student Kitty shadowcat begin to explore there feelings while on a camping trip that goes horribly wrong! Warning this story contains FF! Reviews please!
1. Camping Trip

_**Age Is Just A Number**_

**_Authors Note:_** All characters belong to Marvel-I own no one!  
But God do I ever wish I did :P This is my firststory for the  
pairing of Jean Grey/Kitty Pryde soI hope you like it.

**_Warnings:_** If you are not a fan of femslash especially sexual  
themes between an adult and a minor than I warnyou in advance  
that this may not be the story for you.Like most of my stories I never  
know what the ratingwill turn out to be. But I can tell you that there will be  
femslash, mature themes, and swearing.

**_Reviews:_** Who am I to say no to reviews? lol-keep them coming  
I love reviews!

"Kitty!" Jean hollered from her position down the stairs leading up to the girls' dorm room.

"Coming, Ms. Grey!" Kitty replied earnestly as she dragged her large duffle bag out of her room and proceeded gingerly down the stairs.

"You want a hand, Kitty?" Jean asked sweetly as she eyed the girl with concern as the reality of such a large bag being held by such a small girl sunk in.

"I think I'll be ok…" Kitty replied shyly as she lugged the bag carefully down each step, her long hair bouncing on her shoulders.

_God, I hope, she doesn't fall,_ Jean thought to herself as she bit her lip in concern. _I should probably just help her, anyways._ "Here, let me help you, Kitty," Jean stated as she swiftly made her way up the steps, ready to help the young girl carry what appeared to be almost all of her belongings down the steep staircase.

Kitty lifted her head up and was about to decline Jean's help, when the older woman placed one delicate hand on her shoulder and the other on the bag.

"Oh, uh… thanks," Kitty replied as a light blush tinted her pale young cheeks.

Jean flashed the girl a smile before helping Kitty heave the large bag down the steps. Casting a quick glance here and there, the redhead couldn't help but smirk at Kitty's innocent expression. _It's difficult to imagine this delicate young girl being part of something as dangerous as the X-Men…_ Jean thought to herself as she gave the bag one last heave before letting it rest on the solid stone hallway floor.

"Thank you, Ms. Grey," the shy girl replied as she struggled to look her teacher in the eye.

"You're very welcome, Kitty. Now, let's see if we can get Logan to drag this bag to the bus for us, what do you think?" Jean asked with a smirk, her gentle eyes seeming to entrance Kitty.

"I don't know, Ms. Grey, but it's worth a try," Kitty replied with a shy smile as her eyes quickly focused on the fast approaching form of Logan.

"Jean," Logan called out as he marched his way towards them, his eyes roaming over the woman's slender form.

"Logan, just the man, I wanted to see!" Jean replied with a smile as her eyes meet Kitty's in a knowing gesture.

"Oh, really…?" Logan responded happily, as a smile widened his stubbly face.

"Indeed. You see, Logan, Kitty and I have something very important to deal with, and we were wondering, if you would be so kind as to take Kitty's bag to the bus, while she and I attend to our business," Jean finished slyly as she grabbed for Kitty's hand and made her way around Logan and down the empty hallway.

"Now, wait just a minute… Hey, I didn't say, I'd do it!" Logan exclaimed grumpily, one of his eyebrows rising in defiance.

"Thanks, Logan!" Jean chirped happily, swinging Kitty's hand playfully up and down as the two kept walking.

As the two turned the corner and walk further down the hallway. Kitty couldn't resist the sudden urge to steal a glance at her beautiful teacher. After about the second or third glance, Jean smirked as she asked, "is there something on my face? Or are you trying to count the freckles on my nose?"

"What?" Kitty replied in confusion as she watched her teacher a little more closely, in the hopes of discovering what Jean was getting at.

"You keep looking at me…I was just teasing you with the counting freckles thing anyway-last time I checked I didn't have any" Jean replied jokingly as she giggled at Kitty's still confused expression.

"Oh…you were joking" Kitty replied in relief as she returned her gaze to the door in front of them, that lead to the bus that awaited them outside.

"Is it so hard to believe that I can joke around once in a while?" Jean asked as she gently squeezed Kitty's hand.

"I guess you caught me off guard…I didn't know teachers joked around-let alone doctors" Kitty replied smartly as a playful grin enveloped her usually shy expression.

"Oh really!" Jean exclaimed comically as she held the door open with her telekinesis for Kitty, who laughed at Jean's expression. "You should be careful what you say to me-as I recall we're not to far away from flu season…last time I checked someone needed a flu shot" Jean inquired as she watched Kitty's childish face gloom at the thought of a needle.

"What have I got to lose…you wouldn't hurt me on purpose" Kitty replied with a shrug as she waved to one of her friends.

"Kitty, did you get everything you may need? We won't be back to the Institute for a week and a half-so you better have everything" Storm replied as she quickly made her way towards the young student.

"Don't worry Ororo, Kitty brought everything but the kitchen sink-she's probably the most prepared camper than the rest of us put together!" Jean replied enthusiastically as she watched Kitty blush in slight embarrassment.

"You don't say? Well then, where's your bag?" Ororo asked with a smirk just as Logan burst through the doors with a rather large bag on his back, grunting and mumbling under his gruff breath. "Never mind" Ororo replied with a smirk as she quickly made her way to the bus to open the storage compartment for Logan, who heaved the bag with great effort.

"Damn kid, what do have in here? A dead body?" Logan asked jokingly as he managed to force the bag deep into the bus's storage compartment.

"Whose body do you think it is then?" Kitty asked jokingly as Logan grinned before replying,

"where's Scott?",

"Logan!" Jean and Ororo both remarked warningly as Logan grinned at the ladies response to Logan's obvious wishful thinking. As Logan walked away with a grin still plastered on his face, Jean couldn't help but stare down at the young girl standing next to her. She couldn't help but smile at the young girl's petal smooth skin and gentle-yet childish smile. She smiled warmly at the girl who glanced upward to see Jean's focused stare at her, _such a beautiful little girl_ Jean thought to herself as she quickly moved her glaze to watch the fast approach of Professor Xavier.

"Shouldn't you all be leaving soon?" The Professor asked as his friendly features scanned the faces of his friends.

"Yes, we are just about to leave-that is if everyone is ready?" Ororo replied as a matter of fact,

"good then…I bid you a safe journey and wonderful stories to tell us once you return" the Professor replied as he smiled warmly at them, before Jean nudged Kitty gently before saying,

"get on the bus with the rest of the children-I'll be with you in a moment".

"Ok" Kitty replied with a start at the interruptive nudge of Jean's elbow to her shoulder, "bye Professor" Kitty replied as she soon made her way to the awaiting bus doors.

"Good bye for now Kitty-be safe and stick with Jean!" He called after her with a smile, "she's a good kid-look after her well Jean…we don't want her to get into any trouble."

"No of course not…I'll keep an eye on her" Jean vowed as she crossed her arms and bowed her head a little before saying good-bye to the Professor as she made her way onto the bus. As Jean made her way up the steps, she glanced up and down the rows in search of Kitty. When she finally found her, she felt a twinge of disappointment when she found the girl sitting next to her fellow X-Men, Bobbi. With Ororo behind her, Jean moved to the back of the bus and sat in an empty seat next to a window as Ororo sat patiently next to her.

"So much for sticking with the girl" Ororo joked as Jean smiled at her friend's sarcasm.

"Yeah, oh well…can't blame her for hanging around with her boy crush" Jean replied calmly as she struggled to ignore her growing jealousy.

"I think he likes her" Ororo commented as Jean nodded her head in response,

"I wonder what Rogue would say if she were here?" Jean thought out loud as Ororo sighed in relief,

"thank God she isn't-or we'd have two dead mutants on our hands". Jean chuckled at the comment before replying,

"not like Bobbi deserves it-being such the nice caring guy that he is" Jean replied sarcastically,

"naturally" Ororo agreed as the two rolled there eyes at the sight of Bobbi charming Kitty.

"And off we go for an exciting adventure in the deep, dark woods-God do I ever love camping" Ororo replied sarcastically as Jean watched her friend intently before replying,

"well, I for one am looking forward to this camping trip…there's nothing like the great out doors to help relieve the stresses of modern society." Ororo glanced at her in amusement as she replied,

"you just want to get away from Scott and Logan-great out doors my ass" Ororo grinned knowingly as Jean chuckled guiltily.


	2. Quality Time Alone

_**Quality Time Alone**_

"Ok, I think we've got it!" Kitty exclaimed happily as a smile of relief over came her soft features.

Bobbi grinned at her, as he causally crossed his arms while glancing at the medium sized tent in content. His head nodding in agreement, his crystal blue eyes scanning the tents secure posture; his muscles tightening as his chest raised then fell with each breath. He stole a glance at Kitty, hoping that the girl noticed his carefully crafted sculpture; begging for the girl's attention. Watching from her position at the far end of the campground, Jean Grey watched the young adolescent in contempt. She noted the boy's angelic features and self-confidence, and admitted unwillingly that the boy's natural characteristics made him an obvious heartthrob that any young teen would die to have.

She sighed deeply as she watched Kitty's bright smile reflect off the boy's charm, and the longer she watched the more she felt the curious rise of jealousy. Unsure of why she would feel this twinge of jealousy, she struggled to preoccupy her mind on more pressing matters. She opened the zipper to her tent and moved her belongings inside.

"Jean?"

"Yeah?" Jean replied as she quickly turned her head to gaze upon the white haired weather witch.

Now resting down on one knee, Ororo flashed her friend a friendly smile, while letting her eyes wonder the tent.

"Once you're done in there would you mind lending a hand with the water coolers? We need to figure out where we're going to put them-along with the food so the damn animals don't get to them." Ororo finished enthusiastically, her eyes still sizing up the tent.

"Yeah, sure thing. Just let me finish in here and I'll be right out…" Jean replied as she began to roll out her sleeping bag, which she soon laid on top of her small comforter.

"Oh and by the way…make sure you take your shoes off before you enter the tent-it'll keep the dirt out and off our stuff." Jean quickly commented as Ororo sat up abruptly, dusting herself off, before replying with a small chuckle,

"sure thing neat freak".

Jean chuckled in response as she then slowly made her way out of the tent. She placed her shoes back on her feet, and made sure that the tent was zipped shut before making her way back to Ororo.

"So where do you want to put the water coolers and the food?" Ororo asked, glancing from Jean to the supplies, then back to Jean.

"Why don't we put the food on the bus and leave the water coolers on there to?"

"I don't know about that…what if the kids want a drink? It'll just be a hassle having to go back and forth from the bus back to the camp site for water…" Ororo commented as she watched Jean nod her head in agreement.

"True…maybe we'll just leave one cooler out and then put the others back on the bus with the food. We'll place that cooler inside the spare tent with the med-kits."

"Good idea…well, problem solved. Now, how are we going to get the thing in the tent? I am not carrying that large cooler of water from the bus into that tent." Ororo exclaimed firmly, while Jean couldn't help but chuckle at the women's expression.

Jean was about to offer her assistance when something caught her eye. She quickly turned her head to see Bobbi and Kitty on the other end of the campground. She watched as Kitty carelessly touched Bobbi's arm as she laughed sassily, while Bobbi glowed at the attention he was getting from her.

She gulped at the sight, and clenched her jaw as the view of Bobbi and Kitty flirting began to stir the curious emotions within her, yet again.

"Are you ok?" Ororo's voice called out to Jean in slight worry, as Jean jerked her head back in response to the question.

"Yeah I'm fine, perfectly fine. I was just thinking…"

"Really? About what?" Ororo asked curiously.

Jean shrugged in response as she replied bluntly, "just thinking…nothing to important anyways."

Jean shrugged once again as her eyes moved back to watch the scene between Bobbi and Kitty unfold, each moment causing a deeper anger within her to grow. She gulped as she watched Kitty's hand once again place itself on Bobbi's shoulder, and then the loud sounds of Kitty's laughter seemed to echo into her mind. She was about to walk right over and do something drastic when an idea crossed the beauty's mind.

"I have an idea as to who will help us" Jean replied with a smirk as she gave Ororo a playful wink before making her way towards Bobbi and Kitty.

When she finally made her way towards the giddy pair, Jean placed herself close to Kitty and crossed her arms. She smiled at both Kitty and Bobbi before directing her intention to Bobbi.

"Bobbi, have you finished putting up your tent?"

"Uh, yes Ms. Grey. I was just-"

"you retrieved your gear from the bus yet?"

"Yes Ms. Grey." Bobbi replied obediently, his shy eyes finding themselves searching the dirt floor.

Jean stole a quick glance towards Kitty's direction before continuing with Bobbi,

"good. Very good Bobbi. Now, would you mind lending your assistance to Storm and myself, for a moment?"

"No, I don't mind at all. What do you need?"

"I need you to retrieve one water cooler from the bus and bring it to the tent over there…" Jean led Bobbi's attention with her finger, which pointed a trail between the bus and to the lone red tent that stood a fair distance away from the bus.

She watched the boy plainly as she continued, "…we need you to bring that water cooler to the red med-kit tent. Think you can handle it?"

Bobbi burrowed his eyebrows and drooped his gaze before replying with a heavy sigh, "no problem Ms. Grey…I'll get right on it".

Jean offered the boy a fake smile as she replied boldly, "good boy Bobbi. You really are the nice, reliable, and over all charismatic golden boy that everyone has you pined for".

Bobbi flinched as he raised his gaze to give his teacher a questioning look. A look of confusion and wonderment overwhelmed his features, and as he quickly turned around and began his journey towards the bus, Jean couldn't help but tell that her words had stricken the boy.

After watching the boy make his way to the bus, Jean quickly turned to stand face to face with the petite adolescent. She smiled warmly at the girl, who looked back at her with slight confusion visible on her face. Jean watched as the girl's eyes strayed from her to followed Bobbi's position on the other side of the bus, and soon found herself longing to attract Kitty's attention. She cleared her throat in the hopes to grab Kitty's attention, and when Kitty eyed her teacher in response she flashed the girl a friendly grin.

"Did I do something wrong?" Kitty asked after a moment, her body slightly trembling in the midst her of nervousness.

Jean flashed the girl a puzzled look, as she replied truthfully, "no of course not what would make you think that?"

Kitty shifted her weight consciously as she responded with a slight tremble in her voice, "I don't know…am I in trouble?"

"No of course not! I just needed Bobbi to get the water cooler…and to have some quality time spent with my favorite member of the X-Men. What's wrong with that?" Jean replied with a smirk as she watched the younger girl blush slightly at the compliment.

"Nothing I guess" Kitty replied as she suddenly found herself standing closer to Jean.

Staring into the older women's eyes, Kitty was lost in them. She couldn't tell how long she had been staring at Jean, but only that she could swear she could see something in Jean's eyes that both startled and thrilled her. She was so transfixed by the sudden pull between herself and Jean, that when she finally noticed a struggling Bobbi with the large water cooler, she jerked back into reality.

"Oh, maybe I should help Bobbi with the cooler" Kitty inquired as she began to make her way towards Bobbi, only to be stopped by Jean's gentle touch.

"I don't think so…he'll be fine." Jean inquired knowingly as she motioned Kitty to follow her.

"Uh, I guess he'll be ok" Kitty reasoned as she quickly followed Jean.

The two soon made their way onto a small but beautiful path, which was surrounded by flourishing trees and the sounds of the birds chirping from them.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine. He works out a lot. He tells me all the time about how much he can lift and that he could probably lift me with one hand." Kitty inquired with a grin as Jean chuckled and gently shook her head.

"He's that strong eh?"

"Yeah I guess. But with guys you never know if they're telling you the truth about something or they're just bullshitting you to get your attention"

"watch the language," Jean inquired with a smile as she watched Kitty blush in response.

"Sorry" Kitty replied with a look of embarrassment.

"Its alright Kitty. I was just teasing you anyways…" Jean led off calmly as she glanced down at the young girl.

There was a long pause before Kitty's anxious voice broke the sudden silence.

"Yeah…its not really impressing if he could lift me with one hand when you think about it. After all I only weigh so much" Kitty explained with a nervous laugh as she then placed her small delicate fingers inside the pockets of her blue jeans.

Jean glanced at the girl for a moment, a wicked grin over coming her lips as an evil idea swept through her mind. She looked the girl up and down, before coming to a halt, leaving Kitty to walk a few steps alone. When Kitty realized that Jean was no longer walking beside her, she quickly turned around to face the grinning telekinetic.

"Jean?" Kitty responded in concern, before suddenly finding herself a foot off of the ground. "Hey!" Kitty exclaimed through a giggle as Jean held the girl securely in the air, watching her closely and making certain that she wouldn't drop her.

"Having fun up there?" Jean asked with a smile as she waited for the younger girl to reply.

"You bet I am! But, I think you should put me down now"

"Oh really? And why should I?"

"Because…"

"because what?"

"Because…what if you drop me?" Kitty responded through a toothy smile as she struggled to suppress another giggle.

"I won't drop you",

"you promise?" Kitty responded hopefully, as she watched Jean walk towards her.

"I promise…" Jean replied as she then motioned with her hand to place the girl back onto the ground. "Besides, little girls don't fly…" Jean finished with a sassy smile as Kitty flashed her a slightly serious look.

"I'm not a little girl",

"sure you're not" Jean replied with a wide grin as she walked past the younger girl, who moved her eyes to follow Jean's slender form.

They walked onwards for a while longer. Enjoying each others company with continuous fits of laughter and friendly conversation. They talked about everything from school to leaser; their moods light and happy as the birds sung majestically above them. The breeze swept their joyous and somewhat flirtatious conversation through the trees and into the wild life, with little signs of slowing down they continued their private time together. If it weren't for the setting sun and the vast approach of the cold night air, they would have neglected to return to the campsite. Despite their desires to stay in each other company, alone, they knew that they should return to the campsite before the discomforting night chill attacked them. So, they turned themselves around and made their way back to the campsite. As they made their journey back, they continued to poke fun at each other and enjoy each others company, as they both secretly dreaded returning to the chaos of the campground. Now standing at the entrance to the campground, they both stared back at each other in a strange and seemingly longing look.

"Uh, I better go help Ororo with dinner…it was great talking to you",

"yeah, I uh…I better go check on my tent partner and junk. It was nice talking to you to! I, uh, really enjoyed it! I mean it; I really enjoyed that stuff back their…"

she motions to the path they just entered from as Jean watches her in slight amusement.

"It was a beautiful walk and stuff…well, yeah, I uh…yeah, I'll let you get back to being Chef Grey" Kitty finished, embarrassment evident on her now rosy cheeks.

Jean grinned at the girl in amusement as she touched the girls arm gently before replying, "ok, I'll see you around…"

"Ok" Kitty responded quietly, finding her eyes scanning her teacher as she watched her go.

As she watched Jean move further and further away she felt a curious feeling in the pit of her stomach. She bit her lip gently as she then cradled her stomach with her hands, frowning at the unnatural reaction to Jean's absence. She was about to make her way towards her tent when a voice followed by a playful pat on the back brought her attention. She jerked at the unexpected touch and turned to find her self face to face with Bobbi, who stared back at her with a mischievous grin.

"Bobbi don't do that!" Kitty exclaimed angrily as she pushed the now laughing boy backwards.

"You scared the shit out of me," Kitty continued as she frowned at the boy's continuous roars of laughter.

"Oh come on Kitty. Don't be such a scaredy-cat",

"your such an asshole sometimes I swear!" Kitty interjected with annoyance as she slowly walked away.

Bobbi stared after her, confusion evident on his face as he muttered lowly, "What the hell got her in such a mood?"


	3. Campfires, the open air, and naughty lit

**_Campfires, the open air, and naughty little Teenagers_**

"We need more Graham Crackers!" One of the boys hollered in dismay.

"Well what do you want me to do about it? If you want some more Graham Crackers then go back to the bus and get them yourself!" Ororo replied as she exited her tent with slight clumsiness.

"But its so far away…" the boy wined, but soon stopped his wining when Ororo flashed him a villainous glare.

"I'm cold and not in a very good mood. Don't test me Brian, I'm warning you…if you want more Graham Cracker then go get them yourself."

"Yes ma'am!" Brian replied before practically sprinting to the bus to get his beloved Graham Crackers, leaving the rest of the young teens laughing in amusement.

"I don't think I've ever seen Brian move so fast" Kitty replied through a toothy smile, as she listened to the rest of the boys and girls laugh in agreement.

As they waited for Brian to come back with the Graham Crackers, Kitty sat by the fire, staying close to the flames as to keep herself warm. She listened intently and laughed occasionally, as the other boys and girls talked about their favorite episodes and favorite jokes off of The Simpsons and South Park. Kitty leaned back to grab another marshmallow, which she then expertly placed on her stick before roasting it over the fire.

"Hey Kitty, what's you're favorite South Park episode?" One of the boys asked, as he watched Kitty attempt to blow out her now burning marshmallow.

"Uh…" Kitty began, as she blew furiously at the marshmallow before it finally extinguished, "I love the Ginger kids episode! Nothing makes me laugh harder than Cartman's lack of sensitivity" Kitty finished with a laugh as she pictured the episode in her mind.

"Even I like that episode, and I have red hair" Jerry replied as he ran his fingers through his short red hair,

"you enjoy being a ginger kid?" Another boy remarked, jokingly, resulting in the rest of the boys and girls erupting into fits of laughter.

"Very funny Tom" Jerry replied with a mock smile, before jumping at the feel of a hand on his shoulder.

"Bahhh!" Brain yelled into Jerry's ear, before collapsing next to his friend with a wild grin on his face, as well as a strange object tucked deep into his jacket.

"What's that?" Kitty asked with a questioning look,

"the best happiness money can buy" Brian replied with a smirk as he cautiously revealed what was hidden in his jacket.

"Vodka-"

"Shhhh Kitty! Jesus! Not so loud…at least not until Ms. Grey and Ms. Munroe leave" Brain interjected, while hiding the bottle under his coat for a second, as he quickly made sure that Dr. Grey and Ms. Munroe weren't around.

When the coast was clear, Brian pulled out the bottle again for everyone to see before saying,

"ok. There should be enough for everyone, but we better drink it up soon and get rid of the bottle so we don't get caught with it." He paused as he watched his friends nod their heads in agreement before continuing, "ok, I think we all have a fair amount of food in our stomachs…we all had dinner and marshmallows and shit so we should be good to go."

As Brain began to open the bottle, Kitty watched in anxiety before asking,

"Why do we need food in our stomachs?"

"Believe me when I say that its best to drink on a full stomach-you've never been drunk before have you?" Brain replied before taking a drink from the bottle and passing it to Jerry.

"Well…not exactly…" Kitty replied with an embarrassed look as she dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Don't be embarrassed Kitty…there's a first time for everything and tonight we get to break your alcohol cherry!" Stephanie finished with a smirk, the bottle now in her hands.

Kitty offered a nervous laugh as she watched Stephanie take a long drink. When Stephanie was finished her first gulp, she casually passed the bottle to Kitty, and offered the girl a reassuring glance.

"You're turn Kitty" Stephanie replied as she forced the bottle into Kitty's hands,

"I don't know about this guys…what if we get caught?"

"We wont! We've done this loads of times…" Stephanie replied with a reassuring glance as she watched Kitty slowly bring the bottle to her lips. "It tastes bad…but believe me when I say that after the first couple drinks you'll love it!" Stephanie instructed just as Kitty let the liquid flow into her mouth.

When Kitty was finally able to force down the chilled drink, she immediately scrunched up her face and replied with a big,

"yuk!" before passing the drink on to Brain.

"Don't like it do you?" Stephanie replied with a laugh as she watched Kitty's comical expression.

"How do you guys drink that stuff? It's so gross" Kitty finally managed to reply just as Stephanie finished her second drink and passed on to her once again. "I don't think I want anymore…" Kitty replied as she tried to push the bottle away from her.

Stephanie flashed Kitty another reassuring glance, as she replied knowingly,

"relax Kitty. I guarantee you that after this sip you wont care how bad it tastes…I promise you that in about 5 or 10 minutes you'll be soaring!" And with that, Kitty reluctantly grabbed for the bottle and took her second drink.

With the empty bottle now resting on the ground, the boys and girls began to erupt into the typical drunken behavior. They were laughing, joking around, making out and wrestling each other to the ground, as Kitty watched them in a daze.

"Shit Kitty! You're fucked! Stephanie replied as she grabbed old of the drunken girl. Kitty only replied with a devilish grin as she playfully pushed Stephanie away and replied loudly,

"I want more!"

"I think you've had enough…" Stephanie replied as she attempted to grab hold of Kitty, despite her wobbly legs.

When she finally managed to grab hold of Kitty, she held the girl close to her and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Oh shit Kitty! You really are fucked! You're eyes are all dilated and shit! Did you chug the rest of that bottle or what?" Stephanie replied as she tried to hold the girl straight.

"Maybe I did…chug the last bit…I feel so good right now Stephanie…I feel so-Ssstephanie are you listening to me?" Kitty replied as she then grabbed on to Stephanie's face and held the girl closer to her.

"Yes Kitty I'm listening…Shit Kitty you're drunker than all of us put together!" Stephanie replied as she tried to peel Kitty's hands away from her face. "Ok Kitty…you need to sober up. Let's bring you to the water cooler and get you some water-hell lets see if we can get you some coffee or something" Stephanie replied as she struggled to control the alcohol-driven girl.

"Coffee will only make things worse…" Came a familiar voice, "I'll take her to get some water and maybe some bread to eat…you stay here and have fun" Bobbi instructed, as he appeared out of the shadows.

He grasped Kitty's arm carefully before tugging her away from Stephanie, who watched him cautiously,

"I don't think that will be such a good idea Bobbi…you better…you better let me take her." Stephanie finished as she tried to grab for Kitty's other arm.

"Relax Steph. I can take care of her…there's nothing to worry about. It's not like I'm going to take advantage of her or anything…I have a girlfriend remember?" Bobbi finished with a sweet yet suspicious smile before adding plainly, "besides…don't you think you're a little to drunk to be helping Kitty anyways?"

"I'm ok enough to take care of her…so maybe you should take off." Stephanie replied as she began to tug on Kitty's arm.

"Heeeeeeeey! There's enough of me to go around guys…relaaaaaaaaaaax!" Kitty replied as her head tilted from one side to the other in a drunken state.

"I know what I'm doing Steph. Besides you've got more important things to deal with at the moment-"

"Oh really Bobbi? Like what?" Stephanie spat back viciously as her drunken rage began to build within her.

"Like what you're going to do when Ms. Grey and Ms. Munroe get back from their hike…they should be back in an hour or less…it would be a shame if they came back to find a bunch of drunk teenagers running around and destroying the camp site." Bobbi finished with a strange spark in his eye, as he watched Stephanie slowly let go of Kitty, and began making her way towards her friends.

"Guys! We have to clean up and get to bed or something before Ms. Grey and Ms. Munroe get back!" Stephanie replied as she tried desperately to control her drunken friends.

"I should heeeelp her…" Kitty replied as she tried to make her way towards Stephanie and the rest of the drunken teens.

"No Kitty…lets get you some water and some bread to eat-hopefully you'll be able so swallow it…" he replied as he led Kitty towards the tent that had the water cooler in it.

Once Bobbi got Kitty the glass of water, he quickly led her to his tent. Once Kitty realized where she was, she slapped Bobbi's arm to get his attention before asking,

"what are we doing at you're tent Booobbbiii?"

Bobbi smiled warmly as he replied innocently,

"I just thought you would like a nice place to lay down-or sit down-for a bit. We could go to you're tent if you like instead?" Bobbi replied as he attempted to get closer to Kitty.

"I don't want to sit down…or lay down…I just want to hang out with Stephanie and get more alcoholll" Kitty replied as Bobbi quickly led her into his tent. Kitty was so drunk that she didn't even realize that she was inside Bobbi's tent, until she suddenly realized that she was sitting on one of the two sleeping bags. As she sat on one of the sleeping bags, she sipped on her water, while watching Bobbi slowly close the tent.

"Bobbbbiiii?"

"Yes Kitty?" Bobbi responded sweetly, as he made sure that he sat as close to Kitty as possible.

"What am I doing in your tent? I don't remember saying that I wanted to be in heeeeere…" Kitty finished with a look of confusion as she tried to remember how she ended up in Bobbi's tent.

Bobbi flashed Kitty a sly grin as he quietly motioned for Kitty to drink more of her drink. Kitty complied, and quickly finished the rest of her water before throwing the cup across the tent.

"I don't like water Bobbiii…I want something else to drink…"

"Well, I'll get you something else to drink after…I…" Bobbi trailed off as he moved in to kiss an unaware and inattentive Kitty.

His face was pressed up against the side of Kitty's face, his lips grazing her soft skin. He trailed his lips down her cheek, slowly moving towards her lips, before he stopped to finish his statement,

"…kiss you-" With his eyes closed, Bobbi was about to place a gentle kiss on Kitty's lips before a firm young hand slapped him across the face, hard.

"FUCK YOU BOOOOBBBBI!" Kitty erupted angrily as she quickly moved to stand on her two wobbly feet. "I'M NOT A WHORE! YOU'RE ROGUE'S BOYFRIEND!" Kitty shouted before slipping through the tent with the help of her powers, leaving Bobbi to lay on his back holding the side of his face with his hand.

After clearing the tent, Kitty fell to the ground in her drunken clumsiness. She lay outstretched on the ground for a moment, before struggling to pick herself up off of the cold ground, when a voice entered her ears.

"Kitty?" The voice of Jean Grey replied from a short distance away, causing the girl to jerk into attention.

"Ms. Grey?" Kitty replied, as she attempted to steady herself on her wobbly legs.

"Are you drunk?" Jean asked as she attempted to move towards the girl.

"Uhhh…I got to go-bye!" Kitty replied quickly before turning herself around and making a run for it towards the woods.

"Kitty, get back here!" Jean exclaimed before running after Kitty.

After chasing Kitty into the woods for barley ten minutes, Jean soon found herself catching up to the unstable girl, who was beginning to slow down dramatically. When Jean was finally close enough, she quickly grabbed for Kitty's waist and pulled the drunken girl towards her, resulting in the two falling to the ground with Kitty on top.

"Are you ok?" Jean asked after a moment, her hand rising to tuck the girl's hair behind her ears.

"Yeah I'm ok…just sleepy nowww" Kitty replied before placing her head directly between Jean's breasts, causing the older women to flinch.

"Kitty…you can't sleep now ok? We have to get back to the camp site, ok?" Jean replied as she slowly began to get up, causing Kitty to sit up.

"But I don't want to go back to the camp site" Kitty complained as she moved to straddle Jean's hips, before starring directly into Jean's eyes.

"Oh my God Kitty…how much did you have to drink? Your pupils are dilated!" Jean replied, as she moved closer to get a better look at the girl's eyes.

"A lottt…" Kitty replied as she watched Jean's face move closer to hers.

"Kitty? How much is 'a lot'?" Jean asked as Kitty watched her with a strange look in her eyes.

"Enough to do what eveerr I think...and want to do" Kitty replied huskily. "Ms. Greeeey…lay down," Kitty instructed, her eyes watching Jean's lips closely.

"I don't think so Kitty…we better get back to-" Jean attempted to say before being forced down to the ground by Kitty. "Kitty, what are you do-" Jean tried to say before being silence by Kitty's lips.

With Kitty's lips pressed up against hers, Jean suddenly felt a strange sensation flow within her. The temptation to kiss Kitty back was too strong for Jean to ignore, and soon, Jean parted her lips and aloud Kitty's tongue to taste her. After a moment the kiss grew passionate, as Jean's hands entangled themselves in Kitty's hair, while Kitty's hands went to place themselves on either side of Jean's head. They kissed for what seemed like hours, before reality forced Jean to tear her lips away from Kitty's.

"Oh shit!" Jean exclaimed as she suddenly became aware of what she was doing. In the midst of her shock, she pushed the drunken girl in her arms off of her, before jumping to her feet.

"Owie" Kitty replied as she sat on the ground, her hands behind her back, keeping her propped up.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Jean repeated over and over again, with her hands covering her face.

"Why did you push me off?" Kitty asked, her head still rolling from one side to the other.

Jean paced back and forth, still murmuring curses under her breath before chancing a quick glance in Kitty's direction.

"I'm so sorry Kitty…I shouldn't have done that!" Jean explained with tears in her eyes, as Kitty watched her with a look of confusion on her features.

"Shouldn't have done what?"

"I shouldn't have kissed you…you're drunk and underage and I took advantage of you!" Jean exclaimed as she tried desperately to control her raging emotions.

Now standing, Kitty slowly made her way towards Jean, with a smile on her face.

"What if I wanted you to take advantage of me? Drunk or not?" Kitty replied with a grin as she attempted to pull Jean into a hug.

"What do you mean?" Jean asked with a puzzled look, while trying to keep Kitty away from her.

"I like you…a lottt" Kitty replied with a grin as she tried to pull Jean into a hug.

"Kitty, you're drunk…"

"I'm drunk enough to be walking funny, talking funny and drunk enough to slap Bobbbiii…but I'm sober enough to know what I want. And I wanted to kisssss you…and I did!" Kitty tried to explain as she closed in on Jean.

Jean was about to open her mouth to reply when Ororo's voice filled her ears.

"Are you guys ok?"


	4. Yes Bobbi, I Would!

_**Yes Bobbi…I Would! **_

After helping Kitty back to her tent, Jean suddenly found herself walking past Bobbi's tent when something caught her attention.

"How did you get that mark on your face man?" One guy asked with a laugh.

"Kitty let me have it…" replied the voice of Bobbi.

Jean stopped dead in her tracks, as she couldn't help but listen in on the conversation that would answer a few of her lingering questions.

"What happened?" The other boy asked, as Jean watched his shadowy form peel of his shirt.

"Let's just say…I got a smack across the face instead of a smack on the lips" Bobbi replied as his shadowy feature began to undress himself.

"Dude…don't tell me you tried something with her" the other boy replied, his voice depicting a rising disappointment towards Bobbi's actions.

"I saw an opportunity and I took it-"

"duuuuuude! That's so not cool! You have a girlfriend! Remember Rogue?" The other boy finished, clearly disapproving of what he just learned.

"Look man…you don't understand what its like to have a girlfriend that you can't touch, kiss, fuck, or even get a blow job from. I'm just a horny kid looking for some game-"

"shut up man! As far as I'm concerned you got what you deserved! Fucking masturbate if you got an itch-not rape some girl" The other boy replied before turning on his side, attempting to sleep.

"Whatever man…you would do the same thing if you were in my position…"

"No thanks…I like my girls willing-and sober!" The other boy replied before ignoring anything else that came out of Bobbi's mouth.

"Son of a bitch…" Jean whispered to herself, as her hands tightened into angry fists. _Just you wait Bobbi…you'll get yours_ Jean thought to herself before walking away.

When morning came, Jean was the first to rise. And as she peeled back the opening of the tent, she soon went to work and began making a strong batch of coffee, which she knew would be greatly appreciated by most of the campers.

"Hey…" came a small voice behind Jean, who quickly turned to see a tired and slightly hung over Kitty.

"Hey…" Jean greeted with a small smile, her heart suddenly beating at the sight of the delicate looking girl.

"Here have some coffee," Jean instructed gently, as she quickly gave Kitty a cup of coffee, which Kitty gratefully accepted before taking a seat at the nearest bench.

"Thanks…" Kitty replied with a weak smile as she tried to ignore the sickening feeling in her stomach, which went hand in hand with her headache.

She blew gently on the cup of coffee, before chancing a quick drink before the hot liquid could burn her lips.

"Ouch!" Kitty exclaimed after the burning liquid traveled down her throat.

"Careful" Jean replied gently, as she watched the young girl in a daze.

Kitty offered Jean an annoyed glance, before holding the cup between her cold and shaky hands. Jean watched the girl closely, as thoughts of what happened the night before refused to leave the disgruntled women alone.

_I doubt she remembers anything…at least I hope she doesn't!_ Jean thought to herself as her hands fidgeted in her lap, her eyes stealing glances at the stillness around her. _It's early, seems like Kitty and I are the only ones awake…maybe now will be the best time to ask Kitty if she remembers anything-just to make sure…_ Jean thought to herself before struggling to ask the question that troubled her since the night before.

"So Kitty…"

"Yeah?"

"You were pretty drunk last night…" Jean began with a statement that soon found Kitty closing her eyes and muttering a curse in silent.

"Yeah…" Kitty finally replied as she refused to eye Jean.

Jean shifting uncomfortably in her seat, as images of the kiss shared between the two, as well as Kitty's drunken confession, resurfaced in Jean's mind.

"What do you remember from the night before?" Jean managed to spit out in a low voice, as her eyes watched for any movement inside the other tents.

She waited calmly for Kitty to reply, even though each second of the painful silence, began to drive her crazy.

"Nothing really…I think I drank to much-all I remember is eating Smores and drinking…everything else is pretty shady" Kitty replied before finally facing Jean with a look of alarm on her features. "I'm in trouble aren't I? Are you going to tell the Professor? Or Storm? Oh my God I'm so sorry it won't happen again I-"

"Shhhh Kitty…its ok! I wont tell anyone" Jean interrupted with a smile.

"You promise?" Kitty asked with uncertainty, before watching Jean take her hand and make a cross like sign over her chest before replying,

"cross my heart and hope to die…stick a needle in my eye" Jean finished with a smile before adding in reassurance, "I won't tell anyone…"

Kitty smiled in relief as she looked away for a moment, before returning her gaze to Jean's. Jean smiled in response, and for some strange reason she found herself laughing in amusement with Kitty laughing along with her.

"Why are we laughing?" Kitty replied through a giggle as Jean shrugged, while trying to suppress her own chuckle,

"I don't know" Jean replied finally, as her eyes went up to search the morning sky, before Kitty's hand pushed against her shoulder playfully.

"Stop making me laugh!" Kitty replied as she tried to stop herself from laughing, but found that for some reason she couldn't.

"Hey! What's with the violence? It's not my fault that you got ants in your pants!"

"Ants in my pants?"

"Yeah! Nature girl-"

"oh your so going to get it" Kitty threatened playfully before moving in to tickle Jean.

"Hey! No tickling!" Jean replied, as she suddenly grabbed hold of the girl's hands and held them together so Kitty couldn't tickle her.

"Let go" Kitty wined as she watched Jean's wicked grin spread across her features.

"No" Jean replied before suddenly becoming aware of how close Kitty was, and how soft the girl's skin felt against her own.

Her eyes glanced down at Kitty's hands in hers, before glancing up to see Kitty's big eyes starring down at her, with a look that instantly wiped the smile off of Jean's face. Time seemed to stop as Kitty suddenly appeared much closer than Jean realized, and soon she found her self looking deep into the girl's eyes, their noses almost touching as the world around them seemed to stop just for them. Still holding Kitty's hands in her own, Jean suddenly felt the pull of emotion guide her lips towards Kitty's lips, in a kiss that seemed far to difficult to pass up for any logical reason. But as soon as her lips were almost touching Kitty's, whose eyes were closed, quickly ended when the sudden and frightening sound of a zipper unzipping brought them back to reality.

"Oh…right…uh…I'm going to go get breakfast started…I'll see you-"

"yeah I'll see you…around…" Kitty interrupted in the midst of her realization of what she almost did.

"I'll see you around…"

"Yeah definitely!" Kitty replied before taking her coffee and moving back to her tent, while Jean went in the other direction.

_Shit! I can't believe what I almost did!_ Jean thought to herself as she smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, before attempting to get breakfast started in a means to keep her focus on anything other than Kitty.

"Ok! It's time to pack up and get moving!" Ororo replied sternly after exiting her tent tiredly, as everyone else slowly began to reappear from their tents. "After breakfast we get our things together and begin our hike to another campground…so hurry up and eat your breakfast and get your gear together cause we are leaving before noon! No exceptions!" Ororo finished with authority, as she watched the sleepy and hung over teens gather their breakfast, and make their way towards the benches to begin their meal.

When everyone was finished eating, the teens quickly made their way back to their tents and quickly repacked their things and readied themselves for the journey ahead. Not long afterwards, the group of tired campers stood in a pack, waiting for Storm to feed them their next batch of orders.

"Ok! Good job everyone! Looks like everyone's ready to go." Ororo commented as she quickly did a head count, while Jean stood by her with a smile on her perfect lips. "1…2…3…4" Ororo began in a whisper with her finger drawn, "…9…10…ok that's everyone" Ororo replied with a sigh as Jean smirked in amusement. "What are you smirking at?" Ororo asked when she noticed Jean's smile,

"Nothing…" Jean replied innocently as Ororo shook her head. "Ok, are we ready?"

"No!" Replied everyone else in a grumble, which made Jean laugh despite the evil eye Ororo sent her way.

"Good! Let's go!" Ororo replied as she turned around and began walking down a path.

"Come on guys!" Jean replied with a smile, as she watched the rest of the campers follow Ororo.

After watching everyone pick up their lazy and tired bodies and begin their journey, Jean stayed behind the pack of teens as to be sure that no one had fallen behind. But that wasn't the only reason why Jean wanted to hang back.

"Bobbi" Jean called out in a poisonous drawl, her eyes shooting darts at the young man who stopped short of his step, before turning around to look back at Jean.

"Yes Ms. Grey?" Bobbi asked in his sweet innocent voice, his eyes clear and guilt free, despite what happened the night before.

"A word!" Jean stated, her mind briefly searching Bobbi's to see if the boy even suspected that Jean knew anything about what happened between Kitty and himself. _Doesn't even suspect that I know something_ Jean thought to herself as she waited for Bobbi to make his way towards her, his eyebrows burrowed in a state of confusion.

"You need to speak with me?"

"Yes" Jean hissed angrily, all of her anger that she felt when she discovered what Bobbi tried to do came to the surface.

Her arms crossed over her chest, as she silently recalled the information she over heard the night before.

"Is there a problem Ms. Grey?" Bobbi asked, still maintaining that sweet 'boy next door' image he was all to good at doing.

"Actually there is…" Jean replied, pausing a moment to control the desire to beat the hell out of the boy, now that she had him alone.

"I know what you planned to do with Kitty last night-"

"now wait a minute I-"

"Shut up!" Jean practically roared before connecting her fist with Bobbi's face in a blow that sent the boy reeling over.

"Ms Grey!" Bobbi replied in shock, before being silenced by Jean's next words.

"I'm going to say this once, and only once…you will stay away from Kitty for the rest of the trip-hell stay away from her period!"

"Ms. Grey you hit me-"

"Consider yourself lucky that I didn't do more!" Jean hissed venomously, her eyes locking onto Bobbi's and instantly making the boy feel as small and insignificant as an ant.

"Wait until the Professor learns that you hit a student!" Bobbi shot back with a grin, thinking that this would scare Jean off and give him the power she took away from him.

"You won't"

"I wont?"

"No, you wont. Because if you tell anyone about our little conversation, let alone how you got that new mark on your slimy face… I will not only tell the professor that we have a future rapist on our hands-but I will _personally_ make sure that the only bodily function you will ever be able to do, is drool and shit your pants!" Jean threatened with a snarl, her finger raised and eyes like flames that instantly melted Bobbi's cool exterior.

"You wouldn't" Bobbi replied doubtfully.

**_Yes Bobbi…I would!_** Jean's voice answered in the boy's mind, causing him to jolt at the unexpected action.


	5. What a Woman Does

**_What a Woman Does_**

After walking for most of the day, Jean and the rest of the campers gathered around their next campground, and began setting up for the night. The sun was slowly setting; bringing forth a cool evening breeze that shook the trees and caused shivers within everyone. And as Jean finished putting up her tent, she couldn't help but steal the occasional glance in Kitty's direction.

_Stop it Jean! You've been staring at that girl all day!_ Jean scolded herself as she jerked her eyes away from Kitty. _I know what you're thinking…but Kitty is far to young for you. Stop looking at her like she could be your next girlfriend! She's just a kid…stop wishing for things that'll never happen! _Jean continued with the thought, as she suddenly became aware of how depressed she suddenly felt.

_Just let it go Jean…_ Jean thought to herself, before being interrupted by the voice of her long time friend.

"Jean! What's up? You look a little under the weather…is there something wrong?" Ororo asked, as she watched Jean's expression with a worried look.

"I'm fine…totally fine. I uh, I'm just a little tired that's all…" Jean replied, as she flashed Ororo a reassuring smile, before turning away from her friend to make her way towards the benches.

While trying to reassure herself that everything was ok, Jean quickly made her way towards the cooking gear, which rested on the benches not far from her.

"Are you sure?" Ororo asked unconvinced by Jean's answer, her arms crossed and her eyebrows burrowed, as she studied her friend closely.

"Yeah…I'm positive" Jean replied as she moved towards the cooking material, and began organizing the planned meal for the evening.

Knowing that she should start dinner before the evening's darkness made it to difficult to see, Jean practically ignored Ororo's annoying presence.

"Thinking about Logan and Scott?"

"No! Of course not…what would make you think that?" Jean replied with a confused look, as Ororo watched the women's expression closely.

"Because those two are the reasons you have headaches…remember?" Ororo replied as she shifted her weight onto one leg, while studying Jean's plain expression.

"Oh yeah…how could I forget" Jean replied smugly, as she reached into the small cooler for the hamburger meat. "Hamburgers tonight?" Jean inquired, as she held one of the frozen meat's up for Ororo to see.

"Yeah, sure…whatever you're in the mood for" Ororo replied as she nodded her head appreciatively.

"Good! Then lets get dinner started before it gets to dark to see" Jean stated thoughtfully, as she grabbed for the large cooking rack and moved towards the campfire.

As she approached the campfire, which was already ablaze, she noticed the large stones that circled the campfire, which would serve perfectly for what Jean wanted to do. As Ororo watched, Jean carefully placed the large rack over top of the fire pit, and made sure that the four metal legs were resting securely on the smooth surfaces of the rocks.

"There!" Jean replied as Ororo handed Jean a large sheet of tinfoil to place over the metal rack. "Alright! I think we're ready to start cooking…" Jean stated, as she took a moment to marvel at her work.

"You're taking quite a risk Jean. I mean, what if the rack falls off of the rocks?"

"Don't worry! It looks like it'll hold for now, and if it looks like its going to topple over…then I'll just simply not allow that to happen!" Jean replied as she used her telekinetic powers to bring the cooler filled with raw hamburger meat to her. "Being telekinetic does have its high points" Jean stated with a comical expression, as Ororo watched on.

"I see! Well, then! Forgive me for ever doubting you!" Ororo replied with a grin, as she bent down on her hands and knees and reached into the cooler, which was now firmly planted on the ground in front of her.

After a couple of minutes of waiting for the rack and the tin foil to heat up, Jean and Ororo slowly began to place the raw hamburger meat onto to the tin foil.

"Hamburgers! Yummy!" Kitty replied as she went to take a seat on a bench, which had been previously moved to rest near the campfire.

Jean jolted at the unexpected sound of the girl's voice, and chanced a quick and innocent glance at Kitty, before turning to her side to notice that Ororo was no longer there.

_Where did she go? _Jean thought to herself when she realized that Ororo, for some reason, was no longer there. _She probably left to get firewood or something. Damn my luck! She left me alone with Kitty!_ Jean thought to herself, before responding to Kitty's sudden and unexpected presence.

"Kitty! Jeez! You startled me…" Jean replied with a forced chuckle, as her eyes seemed to find the sizzling hamburger meat to be more interesting than Kitty.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to startle you" Kitty replied, as she kept her gaze placed firmly on Jean's hunched over form.

"No need to apologize Kitty. I just didn't notice you until you spoke" Jean replied as she poked the hamburger meat with a fork, listening to the loud sizzle of the cooking meat.

There was a moment of silence, as Kitty stared down at Jean, while Jean did everything she could to calm her nerves. She looked up at Kitty, who flashed her a friendly smile, which Jean returned gratefully, before returning her attention back to the hamburgers. Feeling the tension in her legs, from sitting in an awkward position, Jean gracefully moved from her seated position to sit next to Kitty on the bench.

"It certainly didn't take you long to put up your tent…" Jean replied, trying desperately to end the uncomfortable silence.

Kitty, who was watching the raw meat cook, glanced upwards at Jean and flashed her an acknowledging smile, before returning her gaze to the campfire.

"Wasn't as difficult as the first time. And unlike the others, I didn't waste my time joking around" Kitty explained, as Jean watched her thoughtfully.

"You don't have to be so serious all the time Kitty. Part of this camping trip is so that you can relax and have fun…let go of all your responsibilities and be one with nature." Jean replied in a speech like tone, as Kitty smiled in response.

"You think I'm too serious?"

"Sometimes…sometimes I wonder if you're an adult trapped in a young girl's body" Jean replied as she nudged Kitty playfully.

"I thought last night proved that I can be childish and stupid…as well as something else…" Kitty replied as she looked up to Jean to flash her a playful grin, which certainly caught Jean's full attention.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jean asked, trying desperately to keep her cool.

"What do you think it means?" Kitty replied with the same playful grin that made Jean flush slightly.

Jean found herself staring deeply into Kitty's brown eyes, searching desperately for an answer to Kitty's strange and insinuative behavior. And when Kitty's playful grin turned to a more seductive one, Jean couldn't help but tremble at the sight that brought forth a strange flutter in her veins.

"Kitty, are you flirting with me?" Jean suddenly found herself asking, as Kitty's gaze never wavered from Jean's.

"Do you want me to?" Kitty asked as she let her eyes search Jean over, causing her teacher to tremble at the seductive action.

Jean didn't know what to say; she knew she was in a difficult situation that seemed simple, yet something made it difficult. She wanted to say no, and tell Kitty that maybe she should go hang out with the other boys and girls, but something made her go silent. And as the air tightened in her lungs, and Kitty's grin began to widen, Jean said the first thing that came to mind.

"What do you think?" Jean replied after a long moment, as she silently hoped that the answer would keep Kitty busy, until she could find a suitable distraction that would save her from this current torment.

Kitty just chuckled as she moved to face Jean.

"Am I bothering you Jean?"

"Since when do you call me by my first name?" Jean asked, slightly shocked that Kitty would continue to flirt with her.

"I thought that since we're out in the open air-in Mother Nature's world…that the rules of society don't apply here," Kitty stated, her eyes hinting to a more than innocent meaning that Jean instantly caught on to.

Choosing to remain silent, Jean moved forward with her fork in hand, and began flipping the burgers over so the other side could cook.

"The burgers are coming along…" Jean said in an attempt to change the uncomfortable topic.

Kitty shook her head from side to side, as she looked away briefly, before returning her gaze to a visibly uncomfortable Jean Grey.

"We can talk as freely as we want you know? Storm and the others went to get more firewood…she told you that while you were busy trying to ignore me-but I guess you were to preoccupied to hear." Kitty replied as she watched Jean sit up straight against the table part of the bench.

_Why is she acting this way? What am I supposed to do?_ Jean asked herself, before deciding to confront Kitty truthfully. "What do you want Kitty?" Jean asked as she refused to look at the girl, who continued to stare at her.

"I want to thank you"

"Thank me for what?"

"For taking care of Bobby for me…and, for getting him to apologies for what he tried to do the night before" Kitty replied, as she rested her arm on the table part of the bench.

"I didn't get Bobby to do anything-"

"Liar! I saw you talking to Bobby. I remembered, from last night, that I dropped my watch near the campsite when I was all drunk and stuff. So, I went back to look for it, when I saw you talking to Bobby. I guess you didn't see me because you were to busy scaring the shit out of Bobby…not to mention that I was hiding behind the bushes…" Kitty explained with an almost cheerful expression. She allowed her words to sink into Jean's mind, watching the older women shift uncomfortably, before adding, "…you stood up for me"

"Yeah…" Jean replied, in a voice that showed her growing defeat in the conversation.

"By the way…I just wanted to say that it was really sweet of you to stand up for me like that," Kitty said with a hint of enthusiasm, as she placed her young small hand on Jean's thigh seductively.

"Kitty!" Jean exclaimed as she jumped at the extreme move that Kitty made on her. She flashed Kitty a shocked look before saying the first thing that came to mind,

"Kitty? What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…I mean, since when does a 17 year old start putting the moves on her teacher! God! You're waaaaaaay to young to be doing that kind of stuff!" Jean replied as she now stood on her shaky legs, as Kitty watched her with a confused and slightly offended expression.

"I don't know…blame the media for corrupting us young kids with sexually explicit behavior. Or, you can blame it on what I happened last night!" Kitty stated in a dominating voice, as she moved to stand in front of a flustered Jean Grey. "Or…you can blame it on what happened this morning" Kitty added as she moved closer to Jean, who placed her one hand over her eyes as she tried to think of a rational thing to say.

"Kitty…" Jean tried to say before being silenced by Kitty's next words.

"Shhh! Sit down and we'll talk some more" Kitty encouraged as she grabbed for Jean's one hand and guided her to sit back down on the bench. "We probably can't talk for long…since everyone should be back with firewood soon" Kitty added as she watched Jean remove her hand from her face to stare blankly into the fire.

"So…I'm guessing you remember everything from last night?" Jean inquired, partly knowing the answer that would escape Kitty's young plump lips.

"Yes…I remember everything! I just…well…I lied about not knowing earlier because I wasn't sure about you. If you actually liked me…but when I saw and heard the things you said to Bobby-how you said it…what you threatened to do if he hurt me again…I knew that there was something between us. "

"I thought you said that you didn't remember much from last night…"

"Like I said…I lied" Kitty replied with a shrug.

"So it seems. So, what exactly do you remember? Just tell me everything" Jean replied as she tried to control her racing heartbeat, as Kitty flashed her a wicked smile.

"Well, I remember drinking, Bobby trying to take advantage of me…me running away from you…and of course, me straddling your legs, and…" Kitty paused in mid sentence to lean towards Jean.

The pull of attraction proved to be too much for Jean, as Kitty closed in on Jean's entranced face and moist lips. And as Kitty's lips were inches apart from Jean's, she continued her sentence,

"…I remember me kissing you…" Kitty paused to place a gentle kiss on Jean's lips before continuing, "…and I distinctly remember you kissing me back…" Kitty finished before firmly pressing her lips against Jean's, in an attempt to get more than a small peck on the lips. "Come on Jean…give me what you gave me last night" Kitty replied when Jean refused to allow Kitty's tongue into her mouth.

Not willing to give up, Kitty let her tongue graze Jean's bottom lip seductively, as her hand went to caress Jean's cheek. Jean moaned in pleasure, before finding the temptation to kiss Kitty back to be too much, and before Jean could stop herself, she parted her lips and accepted Kitty's kiss. The kiss was slow and sensual, leaving Jean with the feeling that she was in heaven. But after a moment, Jean realized what she was doing; and soon parted from the kiss, and quickly jumped up off of the bench.

"No Kitty! We can't do that…it was wrong the first time, and the second time, doing it a third time doesn't change anything…" Jean stated with authority.

"I can't help it! I mean I don't act the way I do when I'm with you. And I love it! I'm not weak little Kitty who needs to be looked after all the time. When I'm around you I feel like I can do anything…and what's wrong with liking me anyways? Am I not pretty enough for you?"

"No! No, it has nothing to do with that"

"then what?"

"You're to young Kitty! Your 17 and I'm 28! Its illegal for me to even think of you in that way…" Jean replied before the sounds of approaching voices silenced her.

Before Ororo and the other campers were in earshot, Kitty couldn't resist an attempt to get Jean to see things her way.

"Age is just a number you know…" Kitty stated before getting up to move away from a flustered Jean Grey.

As Kitty passed Jean, she was shocked when she felt Jean's hand grab for her arm, forcing Kitty to stay.

"Kitty…just because a girl looks like a woman, acts like a woman, and thinks like a woman; it doesn't mean that she's ready to do what a woman does-or deal with situations and consequences that come with being a woman…" Jean stated as clearly as possible, before releasing her grip on Kitty's arm.

Before Kitty walked away, her eyes locked with Jean's in a look that would haunt Jean later on that night. And when Ororo made her up to Jean with firewood in her arms, Kitty gave Jean one last glance, before walking away, and towards her approaching friends.

"What's up with Kitty? She looks way to pissed off!" Ororo commented as Jean's gaze continued to watch Kitty go.

"She didn't want to except the rules…so I had to set her straight" Jean replied coldly, before returning her attention to the now cooked hamburgers.

**_Authors Note:_** I don't think that I introduced how old Kitty is…so as far as I know she's 17 in this story. I don't know everything there is to know about X-Men so I may not have the ages right but I'm just going to go with Kitty being 17 and Jean being 28. I meant to post this on Friday but…my monitor is messed up, again.


	6. Happy Birthday

**_Happy Birthday_**

_Kitty keeps staring at me!_ Jean thought to herself as she took a sip out of her freshly brewed cup of coffee. _It's driving me absolutely mad!_ She added thoughtfully, shaking her head as she watched Kitty, who was eating her oatmeal, stare at her longingly.

Jean took another sip from her cup of coffee, as she tried to look everywhere but where Kitty was sitting. She preoccupied her self by staring off into the distance, before her eyes couldn't help but catch a seemingly closer Kitty Pryde, who was still eating her big bowl of oatmeal.

_That's strange…she seems closer than before…_ Jean commented to herself, before nodding a polite nod in Kitty's smiling direction. _Yeah…one can only guess why she's smiling!_ Jean thought to herself, before bringing her attention away from Kitty once again.

Jean couldn't help but smirk, as she watched as Storm yelled at a few boys, who were throwing pinecones, and other things into the campfire, watching it burn out of amusement.

"Jean! It would be nice if you could help me!" Storm commented from the other side of the campsite.

"That's ok Ro! You seem to be handling things well enough!" Jean replied, before jerking at the realization that Kitty was now sitting right across from her on the bench.

"Kitty! Christ all mighty!" Jean replied, before cringing at the feel of the hot coffee spilling slightly onto her hand.

"Scared you again? Sorry Jean, couldn't help myself" Kitty replied, grinning as she watched Jean lick the red spot that now formed on her hand.

"Kitty, what did I say about using my first name?" Jean replied; her eyes focused on the burn on her hand, as Kitty watched her closely as if she were in a trance.

"But you call me by my first name!" Kitty replied, after fazing through the table to solidify on the other side of the bench, sitting as close as she could to Jean Grey on her side of the bench.

"Shit Kitty!" Jean exclaimed in shock once again, when she turned her head to find Kitty sitting next to her.

"Sorry Jean" Kitty replied with a grin, as she moved to straddle the bench, her oatmeal resting on the table, while she watched Jean intently.

"Kitty, do you remember what we talked about yesterday?"

"Of course I do…now the real question you should be asking me is, 'do you intend to care about what we talked about yesterday?'" Kitty replied, as Jean rolled her eyes and cradled her head in her hands.

Kitty smirked in amusement, before grabbing for Jean's burnt hand, pulling it towards her as to study the wound.

"It doesn't look to bad…but it does look like it hurt-"

"Thank you Kitty…me having a PHD might have missed that important detail" Jean replied, as she sighed in frustration.

"I was only trying to be helpful!" Kitty reassured, before running her tongue along the burn, resulting in Jean gasping in shock as well as arousal.

"Kitty!" Jean exclaimed; her eyes quickly roaming the area to see if anyone witnessed what Kitty just did.

"Oh come on! Don't act like you didn't like it!" Kitty replied, before feeling Jean's hand quickly pull free from her hold.

"Do you enjoy the possibility of me spending the rest of my days in jail?" Jean asked, as she tried to ignore the excitement she felt when Kitty guided her tongue over her burnt hand.

"Do you enjoy pretending that you don't want my tongue in your mouth right about now?" Kitty answered back, moving forward, causing Jean to move back in order to avoid Kitty's approaching lips.

"You must have rabies or something…" Jean stated thoughtfully, before getting up from her seat, coffee in hand, and preparing herself to march over to stand beside Storm.

"Mmm valid point Doctor! Maybe I got it the other night when I was making out with-" Kitty's next words were muffled by a flying piece of bread, which Jean ordered into Kitty's mouth with the help of her telekinesis.

"That's enough out of you Kitty!" Jean replied with authority, as she marched away from Kitty to join Storm on the other side of the campsite. Kitty chewed on the bread appreciatively, as she watched her crush walk away.

_I'll get you Jean…you can run, but you most certainly can't hide!_ Kitty vowed to herself.

"For crying out loud people! Stop acting like kids and start acting like-"

"extremely hormonal and out of control teenagers?" Jean interrupted with a smile.

"Yay Dr. Grey is here!" The kids stated joyfully, as Storm rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"It would be nice to see a more 'teacher like' side to you Jean…rather than the 'teen favorite' side of you" Storm replied with a smirk, as she turned to face Jean.

"But I'm on vacation Ro! I'm living it up!" Jean replied with enthusiasm, as Storm chuckled in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…by the way, how was your sleep? Feeling any better?"

"Yeah, yeah! Just…feeling great! Great and awake, and a whole lot nicer than I was yesterday" Jean replied, as she took another sip from her coffee.

Storm shook her head from side to side as she watched her friend happily.

"Thank God! I thought I would have to tie you up, if you were in a bad mood again." Storm replied, as she turned to watch the other boys and girl's joke around and laugh.

"Awww you were considering leaving me here?" Jean replied comically, as Storm pretended to act innocent.

"No! Of course not! I'm hurt that you would think I would do such a horrible thing! And besides…if I did do that, I wouldn't leave you tied up alone." Storm replied with a raised eyebrow, as Jean watched her friend with a smile.

"Who would you force to stay behind to look after me?"

"Kitty seems like a good choice-Jean are you ok?" Storm interrupted herself in response to Jean suddenly spiting out a mouth fool of coffee onto the ground.

After a few moments of coughing, Jean finally got control of herself and tried to ignore the rows of eyes staring at her with looks of concern.

"I'm fine, everybody! I'm all right!" Jean replied, before feeling a small hand pat her on the back.

"Well, that's a relief! I don't know what I would do without my hiking partner!" Kitty replied before cutting past Jean to take a seat next to her friend on a bench next to the fire.

"My what?!?" Jean exclaimed, as she couldn't believe what she heard coming out of Kitty's mouth.

"Yeah, I mean…I thought that Kitty could keep you company, since you'll be bringing up the rear, while I stay up front and guide the troops. And since we'll be hiking uphill, in order to get to the camp site on the other side…I thought you and Kitty could help each other out!" Storm explained, as Kitty flashed Jean an all to friendly smile.

"I can hardly wait…" Jean stated through gritted teeth, as she realized how her life was officially over at that point.

"Great! Now then…once everyone has finished their breakfast, we're going to grab our things and begin our hike up that rocky hill…I think we might do a little night hiking to-so don't forget to have your flashlights out and handy." Storm responded in a high note, as Jean fought through the undeniable urge to throw her coffee cup down to the ground and begin kicking and screaming out of pure frustration.

_Come on Jean…pull yourself together! Don't let Kitty know that she's getting to you…she seems to be getting off of the idea of driving you insane!_ Jean thought to herself, as her eyes met with Kitty's bright and ambitious eyes.

Kitty's grin seemed to undress Jean on the spot, while the playful moistening of her lips with her tongue to be a symbol of what was to come. Jean tried to stare down Kitty, tried as hard as she could to let Kitty know that she didn't give a damn about her, and that there was no chance in hell that Kitty was going to get anything out of her other than a teacher/student or older friend/younger friend relationship. But Kitty's unwavering grin had more powerful things to say to Jean, and it proved to be enough to force Jean away from the campfire area. And as Jean made her way back to the tent area, she soon heard Kitty's light footsteps following her closely.

"Kitty…"

"Going to you tent? I would, if I were you anyways" Kitty interjected sweetly, her long hair bouncing off her shoulders, as she moved to walk next to Jean's hurried pace.

"And why's that Kitty?" Jean asked in an irritated tone, as Kitty watched her with a warm smile.

"I bought you something…" Kitty replied, stopping short of Jean, who in turn stopped as to flash the girl a questioning look, as her mind struggled to interpret the meaning of Kitty's words.

"What did you buy me?" Jean asked, her eyes searching Kitty's orbs in deep fascination, trying desperately to interpret the girl's now smiling expression.

"Don't worry…its nothing outside of the ordinary" Kitty replied before moving to stand next to the tree, pressing her young body against it.

"I'll give you a hint…it's something that I want you to wear on our first date…" Kitty replied with a look that almost made Jean's heart stop beating.

"Our first what?"

"Date…and, something for our…first time" Kitty replied with a sultry grin.

"I refuse to open it" Jean replied with an entranced expression, silently hoping that if she denied Kitty's gift, that this insanity would be over.

"Do what you will…but I'm not telling you were I put that gift. For all you know…I accidentally put your gift next to Storm's things, mistaking it for yours" Kitty replied with a mysterious expression, as she crossed her arms over her chest and kept her gaze placed on Jean's slender form.

"Who cares…I'll just tell Storm that you have a crush on her-"

"waste of breath Jean" Kitty interrupted with a shake of her head, as she chuckled in amusement.

"How so?" Jean asked, as she watched the young girl's body with mild interest.

"Did I forget to mention that I wrote a small love note, with your name as well as mine mentioned in it, with the gift?" Kitty said, smiling as she watched Jean's cool expression falter at this new information. "Oh, and by the way…I wrote that note this morning, while you were making breakfast I slipped it as well as the gift into your tent. Not to mention that the note mentions our night of drunken passion…"

"That's quite a risk you're taking Kitty…" Jean replied; her words trembling slightly as she watched Kitty's features closely.

"That's true…I am. But believe me, you're worth the risk." Kitty stated warmly, as she then watched Jean unzip the zipper to her tent, and then slowly enter it in search of Kitty's gift.

After searching the entire tent for Kitty's gift, Jean finally found it, wrapped inside one of Storm's sweaters. With a sigh of relief, that she found the gift before Storm found it, Jean slowly looked over the large wrapped gift with interest.

"Open it…" Kitty encouraged, still positioned against the tree.

With a sigh of frustration and annoyance, Jean did as Kitty asked her. With the wrapping paper now on the floor of the tent, Jean's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Oh my God…" Jean said out loud, as she eyed the red flimsy pair of lingerie in her hands.

_Ok…Kitty's a nymphomaniac_ Jean thought to herself as she eyed the bra piece of the lingerie, and noticed that the breast area was made with see through fabric.

"I'm glad you like it…" Kitty replied with a laugh, as Jean looked up to notice that Kitty was standing by the entrance of the tent, her face contorted into a look of amusement.

"This was a joke?" Jean asked, her eyebrows rose in question, as she watched Kitty's grinning face.

"The see through lingerie? Yeah! A funny one to!" Kitty replied; laughing harder when she felt Jean's hand smack her playfully on the arm.

"You're such an evil child you know that?" Jean replied, before adding, "You were lying…I don't see a note anywhere!" Jean looked up to see a nervous Kitty Pryde.

And just as Jean was about to ask Kitty what was wrong, Kitty dug into her pocket and pulled out a smaller wrapped package.

"This is your real gift…and no, its not a dildo" Kitty commented, earning her another smack on the arm by Jean's outstretched hand. "I'm sorry…but I have to go"

"Why?"

"I can't watch you open this…I'll have a heart attack and die" Kitty replied as she moved to stand on her two shaky legs and waked away from a suspicious Jean Grey.

For a moment, Jean debated the idea to just leave the gift, and pretend that Kitty never gave it to her. But something in Jean made her want to open the gift and see with her own eyes what Kitty wanted her to have. So, Jean slowly and carefully unwrapped the gift to find a small package, a package that undoubtedly belonged to a jewelry store. And when Jean opened the box, her eyes widened as she saw the two silver rings, resting on a small silver chain.

_Oh my god!_ Jean thought to herself as her fingers toyed with the surface of the silver rings and silver chain that it rested on.

Jean's mouth still hung open, and eyes still as wide as saucers, Jean silently reflected on the situation between her and Kitty. She was so preoccupied with the gift that she almost didn't catch the small note that was hidden inside the jewelry box. With a careful hand, Jean reached in for the note, and slowly began to read the note left to her by Kitty.

Jean,

Happy birthday! Sorry that I couldn't give you your gift on your actual birthday. But…well, I was afraid to see the look on your face, and I kinda wanted to give you this in private.

I wanted to get you something special since you seemed upset the last couple of days. I couldn't help but notice how upset you were when Scott forgot your birthday since he was to busy going on and on about Logan. If you ask me…your more important than anything in the world-and to forget your birthday would be a crime against humanity!

You're beautiful, smart, kind, sexy, and everything else that makes people fall in love with you at first glance. How do I know this? Cause I fell in love with you…

Happy Birthday!

Kitty


	7. Inappropriate

**_Inappropriate _**

"Wow! It's almost night fall…" Kitty commented as she struggled to keep up with Jean, who marched through the difficult trail.

"Yep…" Jean responded shortly, her breath hitched as her tired legs forced her onwards, as the trail started to lead up a hill, a rocky one at that.

As Jean and Kitty marched onward, they could hear Storm's distant voice from up ahead, muttering encouragements to the visibly tired and sore campers.

"Are you as tired as I am?" Kitty called out, in an attempt to start a conversation with her clearly uninterested crush.

"Yes" Jean replied shortly, as she moved to the side in order to avoid the big mud puddle.

"You want me to carry something for you? Cause I can if you want"

"I'm fine!" Jean retorted in frustration, as she cleared the mud puddle.

As Jean stepped onto solid and dry earth, Kitty quickly caught up to the woman and began walking along side her, a happy smile spread across her lips as she couldn't help but watch Jean intently with her big brown eyes. Jean kept her focus on the ground ahead, trying to ignore Kitty's gaze, as she tried to out walk the smaller girl in an attempt to keep away from her.

"You're not wearing my gift…" Kitty stated sadly, when her eyes searched the area around Jean's neck to find that her necklace with the two silver rings weren't there.

"It was an inappropriate gift Kitty. How can you expect me to wear something from someone who can't take a hint and leave me alone!" Jean stated angrily, stopping to give Kitty an icy look.

"How is it an inappropriate gift?" Kitty asked with a look of hurt, before stopping when she realized that Jean had stopped.

Kitty turned around to watch Jean, who now stood behind her, giving her a look that startled Kitty.

"You gave me a commitment ring Kitty! Let me guess…I'm supposed to wear it and give you the other when we have sex? When I've finally given you what you want?" Jean stated harshly, as Kitty looked on with a hurt expression. "What did you think was going to happen? You flirt with me, black mail me, and give me two commitment rings-"

"Jean-"

"you actually expect me to fall in love with you! To sleep with you and return your feelings for me with feelings for you in a shape of a ring! Well that's not going to happen ok? I will not sleep with you-ever! Even if you were legal because I'm with Scott-a man! Not a small child-"

"Jean-"

"Stop calling me that! From now on you will call me by my last name like all the other children do! I don't want to hear another word about commitment or anything that involves me being with you-cause nothing will ever happen between you and me!" Jean stated, before walking away from a stunned and hurt Kitty.

"But I love you!"

"No you don't Kitty…its just a crush. You'll get over me…" Jean stated knowledgably, before adding. "Come on Kitty…we're behind, the rest of the group has gone ahead of us-we best not get left behind…"

Kitty fought back the urge to cry, as she leaned down on the ground in a crouch like position for a moment. She positioned her head against her knees, as she tried to control the hot tears surfacing from her eyes. After a few reflective breaths, Kitty slowly got up, brushed her forming tears away with her sleeve, and then quickly moved onward. Making her way up the difficult trail, she approached Jean with a cold expression. And as Jean practically refused to turn her head to even acknowledge the girl; Kitty quickly walked up to Jean and moved around her.

_Oh no. She's crying… _Jean thought to herself as she felt a twinge of guilt and a feeling of nausea in the pit of her stomach. Thinking that the girl would stop to walk along with her, since Kitty was in fact her hiking partner, Jean heaved a heavy sigh as she watched Kitty continue to walk further and further away from her. "Kitty wait up! You're walking a little to fast for me…" Jean called out to the girl, but didn't get much of a response, as she watched Kitty quicken her pace to move further away from Jean. "Kitty! I know you're not going to leave me behind…to walk all by myself" Jean called out, quickening her pace slightly so she could at least attempt to catch up to the now speedy teen. When Kitty continued to ignore Jean, the older woman sighed heavily as the exhaustion started to set in. "Kitty! Slow down will yeah? If you keep walking with that pace you'll tire yourself out…and then I'll have to carry you the rest of the distance" Jean called out, as she narrowly avoided another mud puddle.

"Fuck you…" Kitty muttered under her breath as she quickened her pace even more. Although Jean didn't hear exactly what Kitty muttered, Jean could pretty much guess what those two little words were, and stopped for a second, shocked that Kitty would actually say that to her.

"Kitty! You better not have said what I think you said-"

"what did I say Jean? Was it…fuck you?" Kitty responded sarcastically, her voice slightly shrilled and her eyes red from the tears. "Oh wait…it was! I did say that-wow! I'm in big trouble now!" Kitty added with even more sarcasm, as Jean stopped where she stood, her mouth hung open.

"Kitty, I know you're mad at me but come on! That's inappropriate language!"

"Does it really look like I give a shit?" Kitty replied, as she began walking backwards so she could watch Jean's expression. _That's it Kitty, pretend that you're all tough and shit! _

"Kitty…are you crying?" Jean asked randomly.

"What do you care? All you care about is being squeaky-clean Jean! Everyone loves Jean Grey! She's the most perfect mutant on the fucking planet! Falls in love with who ever makes sense and teases every heart that falls in love with her! Leads them on and then leaves them to die!" Kitty retorted snottily, before forcing her tired feet to run when she saw Jean begin to pick her tired feet up and make a run for her.

"Kitty, come here!" Jean replied, slightly hurt by Kitty's words.

When Kitty was convinced that Jean was no longer running after her, she soon stopped running. She turned around once again, walking backwards as she watched Jean with teary eyes.

"What's wrong Jean? Getting a taste of your own fucking medicine?" Kitty teased, before her attention was brought away from Jean when she heard Storm's voice calling out her name as well as Jean's. Before Kitty could react, Jean grabbed for the girl and held her in a close and secure hold. "Let go!"

"No!" Jean replied as she held the violently struggling Kitty against her. "Cry if you need to…I'm not going to let you run off and make a fool out of yourself!" Jean responded with gritted teeth, as she continued to struggle with the upset and still violently struggling Kitty.

"Let me go!" Kitty repeated her demand.

"No!" Jean responded strongly, before realizing that Kitty was no longer in her grip. _Where did she go?_ "Kitty?" Jean called out, looking all around her, before turning to see Kitty running as fast as she could away from Jean. As soon as Jean saw Kitty, she picked up her tired feet and quickly ran after the girl. _I can't believe she used her powers on me! She must have fazed right through me and then fazed through that rock thing on my left…and then reemerged back on the trail!_ Jean thought to herself, before turning the corner to find Kitty standing next to her friend, with Storm and the rest of the campers sitting together.

"Jean! Thank God! We were worried that you and Kitty got lost or something…" Storm responded with a look of relief. And as Jean struggled to catch her breath, she watched as the other campers rose from their seated position; flashlight in their hands as the closing darkness made things harder to see. "We're not that far away…about another 10 minutes and we can set up camp again!" Storm replied, looking as tired as everyone else did.

And as Kitty opened her backpack to retrieve her flashlight, Jean quickly moved beside her, and attempted to pull the girl towards her and away from the pack to speak to her in private. But, as Jean's hand grabbed hold of Kitty's arm, the young girl quickly fazed out of Jean's hold, and flashed her a disapproving look, before making her way to stand next to her friend, leaving Jean to stare after her.

"Ok, everyone stay close with your partner! The darkness is very dangerous to hikers, so we must work together and stay together! Lock arms to, so if your partner falls, you can hold them up!" Storm instructed, as Jean pulled out her own flashlight.

"Hey Kitty…is my hiking partner going to desert me?" Jean called out, but Kitty refrained from looking at the woman.

"Bobby! Why don't you be Jean's partner, and I'll stay with Steph…ok? Good!" Kitty asked as well as answered for the bewildered boy, who took one good look at Jean and instantly shrank an inch or two in fear.

Jean laughed in disbelief as she watched Kitty and her friend Steph walk away, leaving her with an equally not so thrilled Bobby.

_Urrrgh! That girl is going to drive me crazy!_ Jean thought to herself as she eyed Bobby fiercely, before locking arms with him and slowly walking down the path. Bobby's head facing one way, and Jean's facing the other.

"Kitty are you ok? You look like you've been crying" Steph stated with concern, as Kitty shook her head from side to side.

"No! No, no…I haven't been crying. It's just my allergies are acting up" Kitty replied as Jean frowned guiltily, for she knew the truth behind Kitty's lie.

"Oh, ok…what are you allergic to?" Steph asked, as Kitty shrugged her shoulders.

"Phonies mostly…liars, players, and manipulative jerks!" Kitty replied making Jean's frown deepen since she knew whom Kitty was referring to.

"Oh, really? Whose the bastard that dare turn my friend's beautiful smile upside down?" Steph commented, making Jean shake her head as she listened to Kitty's laugh.

"Someone I thought was worth fighting for, worth having around despite what's considered moral or immoral…but I guess I have bad taste in lovers" Kitty responded, as Jean suddenly became aware of just how badly that last comment affected her emotionally.

"I wonder who would make Kitty that upset? Did she talk to you about it?" Bobby asked, in an attempt to start up a conversation with Jean.

"No…but I think I know who she's referring to…" Jean replied knowingly, as she let her eyes fall to the ground, while bringing her flashlight to help her see were she was walking.

"Well, whoever hurt Kitty must be an idiot! Cause that girl has to be the most amazing girl I have ever met…and if it weren't for Rogue-I'd be hot on her heels! I mean she's smart-an honor student for God's sake! Beautiful, funny, caring, fun to be around, reliable, and girlfriend material!" Bobby continued on the subject, his icy blue eyes shining when he went through the list of things that described Kitty Pryde.

Which didn't make Jean feel any better, especially when she heard the first part of the boy's comment.

"Bobby"

"Yes Ms. Grey?"

"You are hot on her heels…" Jean reminded as she sent the boy a memorable image from the conversation she had with him the day before.

"Oh yeah…how could I forget" Bobby replied as Jean turned her attention to stare at the back of Kitty's head.


	8. Last Chance

**_Last Chance_**

Kitty sat by the campfire, eating her dinner quietly, as the other boys and girls did the same. Everyone was far to exhausted from the days events to be to talkative, which was nice since it gave Kitty and the others time to enjoy the nature that surrounded them. Dinner for the night was oatmeal and bagels, since everyone was far too lazy and tired to put an extra effort into making a hot meal.

"I'm so tired…" Steph commented, as Kitty nodded her head in agreement, as she took another mouth full of oatmeal before placing her spoon back onto her bowl.

"God! Another day like today and I may have to throw myself off of the nearest cliff!" Kitty commented, as she listened to the other campers' grunts of agreement.

"Fortunately for you…we only have 3 more days of this before we can go home" Jean encouraged from behind a now tense Kitty.

"Hey Ms. Grey" The other campers' greeted, as Kitty soon found herself staring into her bowl of half eaten oatmeal.

"Can I sit here Kitty?" Jean asked, her eyes falling down to study the apparently inattentive girl. Kitty kept quiet for a moment, before opening her mouth to respond to Jean's question, when one of the campers' interrupted her chance.

"You can sit here Ms. Grey!" Exclaimed a now very excited Brian. Kitty rolled her eyes as she watched the boy's face light up at the possibility of Jean sitting next to him.

"Sure Brain, if that's ok with you…" Jean replied, eyeing Kitty one more time, before moving to sit next to a flushed Brian.

"I'm totally cool with it!" Brian replied happily, as Kitty watched on.

_Jeez Brian! Why don't you cum all over her now?_ Kitty thought to herself, as she began stabbing her drying oatmeal with her spoon.

As Jean took her seat next to Brian, which was directly across from Kitty, she couldn't help but eye the girl closely, smiling at the girl's comical expression. There was a moment of silence, as the campers' enjoyed the clear night air, and the crackling of the campfire. After a moment more of the deafening silence, it was Kitty who broke the silence.

"We need more wood…" Kitty began, as she put her bowl on the ground, and then rose quickly, as the others watched her intently.

"Yeah…we're running low" One camper remarked, as the rest of the campers' nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah…you better hurry and get some wood before the fire goes completely out," another added.

"Ok, I'll be back" Kitty replied as she dusted herself off and pulled out her mittens from her jacket pocket.

"Steph, do you want to come with?" Kitty asked, but just as Steph opened her mouth, another voice filled Kitty's ears.

"I'll give you a hand" Jean offered, as she placed her food down on the ground, and quickly moved to stand next to a flabbergasted Kitty.

"No…that's ok, Steph will come with-"

"don't be silly Kitty…students aren't allowed to be running around the woods at night anyways. A teacher has to be with you to make sure that you don't get lost…or hurt" Jean explained, as the others watched in interest.

"I'm sure I will be just fine!" Kitty replied with determination, as Jean shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"Those are the rules Kitty…don't like them than that's your problem" Jean answered, as she watched the angry look on Kitty's face.

"Fine!" Kitty exclaimed angrily, as the others watched on with baffled looks. Kitty turned her attention away from Jean, and began walking away from the campsite to enter the darkened areas of the woods. And as Kitty walked by the picnic tables, she grabbed for her flashlight and continued on walking, as Jean followed her in close pursuit_. Argh! Does she have to follow me so closely?_ Kitty thought to herself as she suddenly became aware of Jean's tall stature from behind her.

"Kitty…" Jean called out, her tone solid but not nearly as powerful as Kitty's arrogance. Kitty kept on walking, ignoring Jean, her flashlight on and guiding her towards the heavily wooded area, where she hoped to find some loose branches or pieces of wood to bring back to the campfire. "That was pretty cold back there…" Jean stated knowingly, her hand reaching out to grab hold of the girl's arm. After fazing out of Jean's hold, the young girl kept on walking.

"When are you going to stop doing that?"

"When you stop fazing every time I touch you" Jean replied, as she moved to walk next to Kitty, who bent down to grab for a piece of wood from the ground.

"Whatever…" Kitty replied, getting up from her crouched position, the piece of wood in one hand.

"Are you going to be this cold for now on?" Jean asked, taking the moment to talk to Kitty one on one, since the girl was still standing in one spot for the moment.

"I don't know…"

"Well don't be! I don't want to have to deal with your attitude anymore. Enough is enough Kitty!" Jean finished with an authoritative stance; as Kitty gave the older woman one last look before moving forward in search of more wood.

"Did you practice that? Or did you just wing it?" Kitty asked, as Jean struggled to control her growing frustration with the girl. After taking a few deep breaths, Jean struggled to regain control of her already frail emotions.

"Kitty…I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier. I shouldn't have been so mean-what I said was inexcusable…" Jean began, as she watched the young girl's small body in mild interest.

"Are you just saying that because you have to…or are you saying it because you actually admit to having feelings for me?" Jean stopped dead in her tracks at hearing these words from Kitty.

"I don't have feelings for you! That's completely inappropriate-"

"Oops! There's that word again! 'Inappropriate'…don't worry Jean I'm pretty sure that we covered that earlier." Kitty interrupt smartly, before adding. "Oops! Sorry Ms. Grey! I forgot about one of your rules…it won't happen again!" Kitty continued with the same mock serious tone.

"I'm serious Kitty! I'm getting sick and tired of that attitude of yours!" Jean began, as she moved to face Kitty, who turned to face Jean with a plain expression.

"Well I'm getting tired of yours! You think your perfect? Well I think your wrong!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!"

"Then what is perfect to you? Is it you and me in bed? Is it me wearing that see through lingerie and giving you that commitment ring?" Jean began as Kitty looked up to the sky and closed her eyes in disbelief.

"The lingerie was a joke! I told you that…those rings were your gift" Kitty explained as she moved to the side to collect another small piece of wood. "Can you carry that please?" Kitty asked, as she handed the piece of wood to Jean, who took it forcefully.

"That wasn't a funny joke…" Jean stated seriously, her long red hair moving slightly with the wind.

"You thought it was funny"

"no I didn't!"

"Yeah you did! I was there remember?" Kitty shot back with a chuckle, as she bent down to grab another piece of wood, which she tried to hold under one arm. Jean closed her eyes for a moment, as she tried to sort out her puzzling emotions.

"You really like me?"

"I think it's pretty obvious that I do…"

"Why?" Jean asked, dead serious now, watching as Kitty flashed her a curious look before looking away.

"That note explained it all…if you read it that is" Kitty began, before adding questioningly, "did you?"

_Why would you ask that Jean? You knew that Kitty would turn it around on you! Just say no. Tell her that you didn't read the note…maybe it'll make her turned off at the idea of being with you_ Jean thought to herself before answering Kitty bluntly.

"No"

"No?"

"No…I didn't read your note. I didn't want to know about your feelings for me," Jean explained untruthfully, as Kitty eyed her closely.

"You're a shitty liar you know that?" Kitty responded with a smile, before walking past Jean towards the direction of the campsite.

"I'm not lying Kitty"

"Yes you are"

"how the hell would you know?" Jean questioned in annoyance, as she tried to catch up to Kitty.

"Because…when you're lying you do this thing with your nose. It's really cute actually…you like, scrunch it up and stuff. And you always cross your arms over your chest when you know that you have to lie…its kinda of obvious actually" Kitty explained, as Jean watched her with a look of shock.

_How did she know that? Not even Scott could tell if I was lying to him…and we've been together for years!_ Jean thought to herself, before accidentally voicing her other thought, "Scott and Logan could never tell if I was lying…"

"That's because Scott only cares about besting Logan. And Logan only cares about what's hidden underneath your clothes" Kitty explained as she struggled to balance the two pieces of wood she was carrying under one arm. Jean watched Kitty was a look of shock, as she silently pondered how the hell Kitty would know such things about her and the two men fighting over her.

"How do you know these things?" Jean asked, stopping to grab for another piece of wood.

"What can I say? I'm an honor student…" Kitty reminded with a chuckle, as Jean couldn't help but smirk at remembering just how smart the young women actually was.

_Forgot how smart she is_ Jean thought to herself, before finding herself walking alongside Kitty, past the tents and over to the campfire.

"Thanks for the talk Ms. Grey" Kitty responded plainly, as she moved to drop the two pieces of wood to the ground, before taking her seat next to Steph.

After sitting by the campfire for another hour or so, the campers returned to their tents and prepared for bed. And as Kitty left the campfire, and entered her tent, she quickly got her sleepwear on, shivering at the feel of the cold breeze against her body.

"Kitty can I come in?" Steph asked from outside the tent.

"Come on in!" Kitty replied as she waited for her friend to unzip the zipper to the tent, and then enter.

"I hate how cold it gets at night!" Steph began as she soon began to change into her sleepwear.

"I know…during the day its warm and then at night its like sub zero temperatures!" Kitty replied with a laugh as Steph nodded her head in agreement.

"So…what's going on between you and Ms. Grey?"

"What?"

"You know…you and Ms. Grey. What's going on between you two?" Steph asked again, glancing at Kitty for a moment before looking around her for her sweater and sweat pants to wear over top of her sleepwear.

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, struggling to control the nervous hitch in her voice.

"I mean…you two used to be close and really friendly to each other. But now…it's like you two had a big fight or something and you totally hate either other!" Steph explained as Kitty continued to give Steph a 'deer in the headlights' impression.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Kitty responded as calmly as she could, as Steph gave her a look that let Kitty know that she wasn't fooling anybody.

"Did you guys have a fight?" Steph asked, watching Kitty for a moment as Kitty struggled to find the right words that wouldn't make Steph anymore suspicious than she already was.

"I guess we had a little argument-over something really stupid. I guess you get to learn a lot about a person when you have to be around them for long periods of time without a break in between…" Kitty explained, which earned her a nod of agreement from Steph.

"That's true. You learn a lot about the 'true' colors of a person when you live in close quarters with them" Steph agreed, as Kitty sighed in relief that the semi interrogation was somewhat over.

"Ok, well…I think I'm going to go out and brush my teeth and junk…I'll be back later" Kitty explained as she grabbed for her toothbrush and moved to exit the tent. As Kitty stepped out of the tent, she grabbed for her shoes and skillfully put them on without having to attract dirt into the tent as well as getting her feet dirty. As she made her way to the picnic table to grab for a cup of fresh water to wash her mouth with, she noticed a tall slender form standing close by. _That better not be Jean… _Kitty thought to herself, as she continued to move behind the campgrounds to brush her teeth in privacy. "Shit!" Kitty began, when she realized that she forgot her flashlight in her tent.

"Don't worry…I'm watching you" Jean responded gently, as she brought her flashlight to rest on Kitty's tense form.

"Thanks…" Kitty thanked gloomily, as Jean moved to stand next to the girl.

"You know you shouldn't be out here on your own. Buddy system remember?" Jean began as Kitty rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I can take care of myself Ms. Grey!"

"Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot! Kitty Pryde is an honor student! She's way more likely to survive any kind of danger than anyone else!" Jean replied sarcastically, earning her an even more annoyed look from Kitty.

"Whatever…" Kitty responded bitterly, as she began to brush her teeth, her eyes averted to the ground and away from Jean's. As Jean watched Kitty brush her teeth, she held herself and shivered slightly at the feel of the cool breeze against her body.

"Can you hurry up please?" Jean asked, when she felt that she could turn into an ice cube at any moment. At hearing this, Kitty began to brush her teeth at an even slower rate, as her eyes moved to lock onto Jean's now annoyed face.

"Brushing your teeth slower now?"

"Uh huh" Kitty responded as toothpaste began to leak out of her mouth, causing Jean to cringe in disgust.

"You're such a bitch you know that?" Jean replied without thinking, as Kitty chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to call you that" Jean apologized, as she watched Kitty spit the toothpaste out of her mouth, before rinsing her mouth with the water before spiting that out as well.

"Whatever…" Kitty responded, as she turned to leave before Jean's hand stopped her.

"Don't faze! I just want to talk…" Jean replied quickly, knowing that Kitty would faze out of her hold as soon as she felt her touch. "You're friend…she guessed that we're not getting along because of a fight"

"yeah, so?"

"So…I propose that we put a lid on these arguments so that no one else will get suspicious" Jean finished knowingly, her eyes searching the young girl's closely.

"I have a better idea"

"What?"

"You admit to liking me…and these stupid fights between us will end!"

"What?"

"You heard me. Admit to liking me and I'll stop being a bitch…" Kitty began before adding, "Lets end this sexual frustration and have what _we _want to have. Each other…" Kitty finished, before fazing out of Jean's hold, once again. Jean watched the girl longingly, her thoughts caught between wanting to kiss the girl, and running as far away from her as possible, but she just stood there and watched this sexual grin form on Kitty's face. "Come on Jean…I know you're tired of this game, just as I am. Just admit it! You like me…in a more 'loving' way…"

"I told you to never call me by my first name!" Jean retorted, as she fought to control the urge to do what she knew was wrong. To grab the girl and bring her deeper into the woods, were no one could see, and do things to her that would blow the young girl's mind.

"Why?"

"Because you're a child and I'm an adult! You don't care about me the way you think you do. You see me as a sexual toy-"

"What?"

"Yes! You see me as your sexual toy! You get off on the idea of being with someone older-someone you can manipulate into being what you want them to be! You see me as a ball of yarn that you can't wait to unravel…" Jean finished, watching as Kitty's sexual grin turned to a deep frown.

"I don't see you as a sexual object. I really care about you-I know everything about you. I know things that Scott doesn't even know…Jean, I'm in love with you" Kitty explained, as Jean shook her head violently from side to side.

"No Kitty. What you feel isn't _love_…you need help Kitty. Lots and lots of help, if you think that it's ok to treat people like sexual object…to push me to the limit for your enjoyment!" Jean finished with a tremble in her voice, as she fought to maintain the urge to hold Kitty, to feel her skin against hers, to give in to what Kitty offered. Kitty watched on with a hurt expression, tears swelling in her eyes as her bottom lip trembled violently.

_Oh God Jean! Only you can hurt me so badly…_ Kitty thought to herself before attempting to regain control of herself. "Jean…I know you feel something for me. We felt it the first time we met, the first time we touched, the first time we talked. I know, that you feel something for me that terrifies you. I understand that, because believe it or not Jean…I didn't plan on falling in love with you. And I tried to get you to understand how badly I need you. And I would love, more than anything, to keep trying to get you to realize that my feelings for you aren't about lust! They're about love! But I can't keep putting myself up for you, and keep getting knocked down. I can't handle anymore of your hurtful rejections…cause when you say anything hurtful to me, it really does feel like I'm dying. I can't take another rejection from you Jean. So, I'm giving you one last chance. If you agree to face the fact that you're in love with a 17 year old…then you'll make me the happiest girl in the world! And I promise to love you all-day and everyday for as long as you'll have me. But, if you reject me again, then I promise to leave you alone…but when you reject me and then realize later that you are in love with me-don't even think about trying to get back with me, because I wont take you back!" Kitty began, pausing for a moment to control her falling tears, before continuing. "So, here's your chance. Choose now, because I wont ask again. Do you love me?" Kitty asked, holding her breath as she waited for Jean to answer.

"No…" Jean began, her eyes refusing to look Kitty directly "I could never love you like I love Scott" Jean answered, consciously making sure that she wasn't giving off any signs that she was lying. Kitty nodded her head, a few stray tears falling from her eyes, as she turned to face the direction of the campsite. And as Jean brought her eyes to the ground, she couldn't help but feel heaviness in her chest, and a feeling of nausea in the pit of her stomach.

"…Liar" Kitty muttered, as she slowly made her way further and further away from a stunned Jean Grey.


	9. River Below

**_River Below _**

"Hey Kitty!" Jean called out, as the rest of the campers grabbed their gear and prepared to move to a new campground.

"Yeah?" Kitty replied; turning her head to look plainly back Jean, who moved to stand in front of the much shorter mutant.

"Are you going to be my hiking partner? Or am stuck with Bobby?" Jean asked; an innocent look spread across her features, hiding the guilt she felt at knowing how heart broken the young girl must be. Jean watched as Kitty took a few moments to ponder Jean's question.

"Uh…yes, sure, why not?" Kitty answered, as she awkwardly hulled her backpack onto her back, and searched her pockets for her chap stick, as Jean watched on.

"Ok! Great! Uh, let me get my things and I'll be right with you…" Jean answered brightly, before taking off to grab for her gear, which she slung over her shoulders with a grunt of effort. After grabbing her gear, Jean quickly returned to Kitty's side, a plain look still inhabiting her features.

"Ok! Are we ready to move out?" Storm called out from her position out front.

"Yes…" the other campers agreed all at once.

"Kitty? Are you walking with Ms. Grey?" Storm asked, breaking Kitty out of her momentary daze.

"Uh, what? Oh, yeah…yes I'm back here with Ms. Grey" Kitty answered, as the rest of the campers looked back to watch Kitty and Jean for a moment.

"Ok! Good, now lets move out people!" Storm commanded, as she moved onward, directing the rest of the campers in the direction of their new campground. After walking for a few minutes, Kitty and Jean walking alongside in silence,

"Ms. Grey?"

"Yes Kitty?"

"Would you mind if I listened to my music?" Kitty asked, eyeing Jean quickly as she reached into he pocket for her ipod.

"Fine by me Kitty, I don't mind…although it would be nice to have someone to talk to…" Jean commented, but found that the girl was either not listening, or ignored her last comment. With her earphones in her ears, and ipod in hand, Kitty searched through her ipod for the song she wanted to listen to first. "Did you hear me?" Jean asked, nudging the girl playfully, feeling the urge to get some sort of response from the girl.

"What? Oh, right…uh, sure thing Ms. Grey" Kitty answered, as she put her ipod back into her pocket and nodded her head in time with the beat of the music.

"You weren't listening to me were you?" Jean asked with a knowing smile, watching the amusing look on Kitty's face.

"What?" Kitty asked, removing the earphones from her ears so she could better hear what Jean was saying. Jean chuckled softly; as she couldn't help but nudge the girl playfully, her eyes moving from Kitty to the trail up ahead, then back to Kitty.

"I was saying…that I didn't mind if you listened to your music, but it would be nice to have someone to talk to," Jean repeated her previous question, her eyes focused on the trail ahead of her, but still paying close attention to Kitty.

"Oh…right, yeah, I see what you're saying…" Kitty began; disappointment evident in her voice, as she realized that her day spent with her crush wasn't going to be easily avoidable with the help of her music. "I'll turn down the volume so I can still hear you…" Kitty added after a moment, before placing her earphones back in her ears, much to Jean's dismay.

_Ok, so I guess I wont have anyone to talk to when I'm walking… _Jean thought to herself, sighing heavily as she stole a quick glance at Kitty, before moving her eyes to study the scenery around her_. I guess I can't expect too much from Kitty now…I did just break the poor girls heart. Damn it! Why did she have to start crying on me like that? Could hardly sleep last night, every time I closed my eyes all I could see was Kitty crying! Damn it!_ Jean continued, as she bit her bottom lip in thought. Jean was enjoying the scenery around her, and chuckling each time she heard Storm yell at one of the bad kids. And as she walked, she occasionally let her eyes move to study Kitty, who was still listening to her music as she walked. "Kitty? Kitty?" Jean called out to the girl, when she noticed that the girl had turned up the volume to an ear piercing volume level. "Kitty, turn it down!" Jean instructed, nudging the girl and motioning for her to take off her earphones for a moment.

"What?" Kitty asked, her earphones in her hands, and an annoyed look spread across her features.

"You should turn down the volume…you'll ruin your ears if you keep listening to music at such a loud volume" Jean explained, smirking at the annoyed look on Kitty's face.

"Fine…" Kitty replied in annoyance, before placing her earphones back in her ears, but did not lower the volume.

"You think I'm stupid or something?" Jean asked angrily, as she watched as Kitty pretended not to hear her. "Kitty! You promised to be civil…" Jean reminded, as she grabbed for Kitty's arm, only to have Kitty faze through the hold automatically.

"Why should you care?"

"Because I'm a doctor and I know what's best!" Jean answered knowingly, frowning as she realized that her words of wisdom would not be able to penetrate through Kitty's arrogance.

"Look ok, all I wanted was to listen to my music…if I have to walk with _you_ then I might as well enjoy myself!" Kitty answered, avoiding Jean's eyes as she moved onward.

"Kitty! Stop, we need to talk!"

"Now is not a good time…" Kitty answered, smiling slyly as watched Jean through the corner of her eye.

"And why's that?" Jean asked curiously, staring down at the much shorter girl.

"Look…" Kitty answered shortly, her index finger pointing in the direction of the other campers, who seemed to have stopped for a quick break.

"Oh…" Jean replied lowly, as she silently wondered if anyone heard her and Kitty's stern conversation.

_They probably didn't hear us arguing again…I mean, they look pretty busy and they're not even looking at us…_ Jean thought to herself, frowning slightly before looking to her left to find that Kitty was gone. _Where did she go?_ Jean asked herself, as she scanned the area around her for Kitty.

"Looking for someone?" Came a friendly voice from behind Jean. Jean jerked into attention, turning around to find a smiling Storm standing behind her.

"Oh, you scared me!" Jean commented, laughing slightly before adding, "yeah…I'm uh, I can't seem to uh, find Kitty…I don't see her anywhere"

"really?" Storm responded with slight alarm, her eyes searching the area around her to find that she couldn't see the young mutant anywhere either. "That's strange…wasn't she walking with you?" Storm asked, her brown eyes sparking in slight worry.

"Well, yeah, I mean we were walking together…but, I guess she must have wondered off when we stopped here for a break…" Jean replied thoughtfully, her hand rising to her head as worry began to rush through her. "Oh God, I hope she's ok!" Jean added, as she tried searching the area for any sign of Kitty.

"Let's ask around…see if anyone's seen-"

"excuse me boys and girls!" Jean suddenly exclaimed, cutting off Storm's sentence in the process. "Has anyone seen Kitty?" Jean asked trying desperately to remain calm as she noticed the confused and baffled looks on the other campers faces. _Shit! No one knows where she is!_ Jean thought to herself, as she bit her bottom lip before deciding to look for the girl herself. "Ro, I'm going to look around and see if I can find Kitty. If I don't find her in 20 minutes I'll come straight back and we'll figure out what to do from there…" Jean stated, leaving before Storm could offer her best friend a response. _Look! There's a trail over there, maybe Kitty needed to go to the bathroom or something…oh, in that case I better be careful, I don't want to walk in on her going to the bathroom-that definitely wont be a good thing!_ Jean thought to herself as she entered the heavily wooded area, following the small trail as she looked all around her for any clues that would lead her to Kitty. After following the trail for a couple of minutes, Jean noticed the sound of rushing water. As Jean followed the sound of rushing water, she moved through the bushes that blocked her way to find Kitty standing by the edge of a great big river. "Kitty!" Jean exclaimed, relief washing over the woman as she made her way over to stand by the slightly alarmed Kitty.

"What?" Kitty replied, turning to find Jean standing before her. Jean grasped the girl's shoulders, as a smile of relief spread across her lips, and before she knew it she leant in and hugged the girl. "What? What are you…what, uh, what are you doing?" Kitty asked her mind suddenly focused on the fact that her head was close to the taller woman's breasts. _Oh shit, this isn't going to help me get over her…_ Kitty thought to herself, before feeling Jean pull away.

"Why did you run off like that? I was scared shitless! I honestly thought that something horrible happened to you-no one knew where you were and I was so worried!" Jean explained in a rush, her hands still placed on Kitty's small shoulders.

"I was here…I had to go to the bathroom, and on my way back I noticed this river and those two waterfalls over there…" Kitty paused for a moment as to point out the two waterfalls in the distance. Where Kitty pointed, there was a large river, with one waterfall on the far side, and another leading down to another body of water. "The current seems pretty rough…but beautiful, don't you think?" Kitty asked, smiling as she continued to study the flow of the water and the sounds of water thrashing against the visible rocks, which were partly submerged in the river. Jean looked at the girl; flabbergasted that Kitty would put her through such a horrifying experience for the sake of seeing a waterfall.

"You almost gave me a heart attack because you wanted to see a waterfall? You didn't even tell anyone where you were going! How could you do something so stupid?" Jean asked her hands leaving the girl's shoulders to place themselves on her hips.

"Who are you calling stupid? I was only gone for a minute or two-hardly a reason to go all crazy on me about it!" Kitty answered defensively, as she looked hard into Jean's angry eyes.

"Oh I'm sorry…I forgot, that honor students can do whatever the hell they want to. Meaning, they can put everyone through hell just so that they could look at a fucking waterfall!" Jean exclaimed, her hands high in the air, as she suddenly took a few steps towards Kitty, who instantly moved back.

"Oh yeah? Maybe I'm just not as smart as Queen Jean Grey? Uh?"

"Oh! You have a new insult for me Kitty? Aw, you should have"

"only the best for you Ms. Grey" Kitty responded snottily, unaware that she was dangerously close to the edge of the river. "And since you're so much smarter than I am, Ms. Grey. I would love to hear what you would have done differently if you were in my position?" Kitty asked, the tension between her Jean beginning to reach boiling point.

"Well, first of all…I would have told someone where I was going, before I left, which you apparently were to smart to do. And I would probably have left my stuff with my friends so that I wouldn't have to carry all of my belongings with me-cause that's just plain stupid!" Jean finished, getting into Kitty's personal space as she said this; unaware that she was backing Kitty into the edge of the river.

"Oh really?"

"Yes"

"then why did you bring your stuff with you? Smart ass…" Kitty replied with attitude, smiling amusingly at the response she was getting from Jean.

"I was to busy worrying about you to drop anything…as soon as I knew you were missing I went looking for you and didn't think about what I was carrying…" Jean tried to explain, as she watched Kitty's unbelieving face with annoyance.

"Awww that was nice of you. I didn't think that you gave a shit if I lived or if I died-"

"don't swear!"

"Fuck you!" Kitty exclaimed angrily, before feeling Jean's hands against her chest, pushing her into the river unintentionally.

"Oh my God, Kitty!" Jean exclaimed in panic when she realized what she just did.

"Jean!" Kitty struggled to call out, as the river's exceptionally strong current pulled the girl away from Jean's reach and down towards the waterfall not far from the struggling teen.

"Oh shit! Kitty! I'm coming!" Jean exclaimed, before jumping into the river after Kitty, her backpack still fastened to her back. With Jean now in the river, Jean tried as hard as she could to swim towards Kitty, in an attempt to grab hold of the girl and to keep her in close proximity. Kitty struggled to swim to Jean, fighting the current in order to do so, as she struggled to grasp onto Jean, who was still not even close to Kitty. "Hold on Kitty!" Jean called out to the girl, dread creeping up on her when she realized how close her and Kitty were to the waterfall leading to the river below. Knowing that she had to get to Kitty before the two went over, Jean reach out with her telekinesis and slowly brought Kitty towards her, despite the powerful current that seemed to get stronger by the minute. And soon, Kitty was in Jean's arms, as the two struggled to keep themselves above water. **_Kitty, are you still wearing your gear?_** Jean asked through a telekinetic link with Kitty.

_**Yes!**_

**_Ok, I need you to take it off ok? Get rid of your gear before we reach the waterfall-its to heavy and will hold you under…get rid of that weight!_** Jean instructed wisely, as she quickly took her own advice and slipped off her gear. **_Kitty, whatever you do…don't let go!_** Jean added, as she silently hoped to God that the waterfall wasn't as high as she feared it was, or that there weren't any rocks that would meet them once they went over the edge.

After Kitty managed to get rid of her gear, the two only had time to hold onto each other, before finding themselves falling over the edge of the waterfall, and landing into the river below with a loud splash. With the sound of the rushing water from the waterfall, and the sound and feel of the impact, the girls were disoriented from the experience. And as Kitty reemerged from the water, to gasp for whatever air she could get, she quickly looked from side to side to notice that Jean was no longer there.

"Jean!" Kitty roared as loud as she could, trying as best as she could to swim to the side, where she could reach dry land and look for her Jean. But the current was still to strong, and Kitty found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get to the side. But luckily for her, the young woman was pushed into a partly submerged rock, which she clung to with all her mite as she tried to gather her surroundings. "Jean?" Kitty called out again, coughing and gagging as water occasionally forced itself into her mouth. "JEAN?!" Kitty screamed at the top of her lungs, tears mixing with the water from the river, as she tried to figure out what she should do next.

She looked to the side, her vision blurred from both her tears and the water that splashed into her eyes. And from what she could tell, there was a large tree branch that was positioned low enough for her to possibly grab onto, and then pull herself onto dry land. So, feeling like she had nothing to lose, Kitty reached out for the branch, and grabbed onto it with all her strength. But, just as she let go of the rock, and tried to grab hold of the branch with both hands, the branch unexpectedly broke off, resulting in the terrified teen to be lost in the current of the river once again. As she was swept further and further down the river, Kitty cried out in pain when she felt herself slam against another partly submerged rock. After the force of the impact knocked the girl into a daze, she soon found herself submerged in the water and moving frantically with the current. It was only when the current forced her to collide with another partly submerged rock that things got worse for the young mutant. Just as she made contact with another rock, the force of the crushing current forced Kitty deeper into the water, where small but sharp rocks greeted her with a vengeance.

Kitty screamed in pain, releasing whatever air the young mutant had left, as one of the sharper rock, which was sticking out of the sandy bottom, punctured the young mutants leg. With the last of her energy, Kitty pulled her leg clear of the sharp rock, only to find that she was at the currents mercy once again. With no air left in her lungs, Kitty began to feel herself slowly slip away, as her body continued moving down the river, hitting a few rocks as she went. And as the exhaustion began to sink in, she was vaguely aware that she seemed to have stopped moving. She knew that she was still in the water, but for some reason, Kitty was resting on a slanted but secure area. She vaguely felt the water pushing her in another direction, the feeling of waves against her back as her mouth filled with sand. Kitty barley had enough energy to open her eyes, and when she did, the only thing she could see was sand, and the thick trail of blood in the water, coming from the large wound in her leg.

_Where am I?_ Kitty asked herself, as she attempted to move so that she could get a better look of her soundings. _A beach?_ Kitty thought to herself, as she tried crawling her way to higher ground. After crawling her beat up and bloody body to a safer distance from the water, the girl collapsed in exhaustion. Breathing heavy, and coughing up water, Kitty moved onto her back to stare up at the blazing sun, before the darkness took over her senses, leaving her unconscious on the sandy beach, alone.


	10. Cauterize

_**Cauterize **_

"Argh…" Kitty muttered weakly, as she lay on the sandy ground, with her fingers partly buried in the sand, and her head tilted to the side. Dizzy at first, Kitty slowly opened her eyes and stared off into the distance, but still almost refusing to move her weak and abused body.

She struggled to breathe as she coughed up a bunch of water and spat out the awful taste of sand in her mouth as best as she could, while feeling the waves smack against her from behind. Although still disoriented, Kitty began to drag her beaten body further up the sandy path and away from the cruel water. And as she pulled herself higher and higher up the sandy beach, she stopped suddenly when she felt the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. After vomiting some more water that she must have swallowed during her horrific journey down the river, Kitty dragged herself a little further before stopping to rest. She moved onto her back, and stared up at the sunny and clear blue sky, her sight blurred, and her lips, hair, and parts of her face were partly covered in sand. And there she lay, unable to move, as the painful thumping of blood pumped loudly in her head, and the throbbing pain from the wound on her leg seemed to worsen by the second. As she stared up at the sky, groaning in pain, she suddenly found herself drifting off into unconsciousness once again.

When Kitty finally awoke, she awoke to the annoying sound of seagulls' squawking from high above. And as she blinked a few times, in an attempt to clear her blurry vision, she attempted to sit up. After a few lazy and painful moments, Kitty was finally able to force her tired little body up, as she attempted to discover where exactly she may be.

_Where am I?_ Kitty thought as she licked her sandy and dry lips. Her long, wet hair was matted and full of leaves and sand, but she didn't care, she was too busy trying to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do now. _Jean_…Kitty thought, as she remembered the gloomy fact that her crush was in a similar predicament; marooned somewhere else, alone just as Kitty was, or even worse. _Jean, please don't be dead!_ Kitty pleaded to herself as she let a few tears of dread help wash out the sand from her eyes. _Damn it…you can't die_, her thoughts continued as she studied the area around her for any signs that Jean would magically appear.

As much as Kitty wanted and needed to see Jean at that moment, the girl knew the chances that they would land in the general direction of each other were only 50/50. For all Kitty knew, Jean could be on the other side of the river, and there was no way that Kitty would dare try to cross that river, especially with the painful wound on her leg. And as much as Kitty wanted to get up and look for Jean, her head reminded her that she couldn't save Jean until she could at least find a way to stop the bleeding from her leg.

_Shit…what are the chances that after all I went through…that I would get that fucking rock lodged in my leg?_ "Fuck me! That's just fucking great!" Kitty exclaimed out loud, her hands moving to brush back a few dirty locks of hair from her eyes. _I wonder how badly I hurt my leg. I wonder how much pressure I can_-- "FUCK!" Kitty screamed in agony, falling to the sandy ground and clutching her wounded leg. _Ok…now I know two things; I can't put too much pressure on my leg, and I totally fucked up my leg! Not to mention that I got to stop the bleeding before more trouble comes my way_…Kitty thought as she struggled to pick herself up off the sandy floor. Being careful not to apply any weight on her wounded leg, Kitty placed almost all of her weight on the other side of her body then moved towards a tall tree where she could lean against as she attempted to search the area around her for any sign of her backpack. _Now then...this is a long shot, but I have to stop the bleeding and I have to do it soon. _She looked down on her leg to see that her entire leg, from the knee down, was covered in blood. _If I can find my backpack, I know I have my emergency med kit. If I can get that…I should be fine_, her thoughts continued, her eyes searching the area around her before stopping when something caught her attention. "Bingo!" Kitty said as she looked to her left to find her backpack wedged between two large rocks. After slowly making her way towards the two large rocks, she successfully grabbed her backpack, before carefully pulling herself up the rock so she could rest on something that wasn't sand.

"OUCH!" Kitty complained when her wounded leg accidentally smacked itself against the side of the rock. _Ok, that hurt…but at least I'll have a remotely clean place to clean my wound_…she thought, knowing that her best chance to fight off a possible infection was to keep the wound as clean as possible for as long as possible. As she opened her backpack, she prayed a silent prayer that nothing in her backpack had broken during its harsh journey down the river. With her backpack now open, Kitty quickly removed everything that she would need at the moment, and placed it before her on the somewhat smooth surface of the rock. _Ok…I have water, a lighter, a small __pocketknife__, left over vodka from the other night…and some gauze, Polysporin and wraps. Man am I glad Jean made us pack our own med kits!_ Kitty thought graciously, cringing slightly at the thought of Jean. _I'll find her…I just have to take care of myself first, and then I'll go look for her_, she reasoned as she pulled up the bottom of her jean to examine the wound.

The wound was deep, bloody, and dripping everywhere. And as Kitty trailed her fingers around the wound to examine it, she noticed how the wound suddenly began to ooze out more blood, much to her dismay. _Jesus it's bleeding harder! I have to do something…and quick!_ Kitty realized, worry evident on her features as she tried to wash the wound with the water from her water bottle. After washing her wound with the water, she grabbed for the vodka and quickly poured some onto her wound, resulting in a few grunts of pain in response.

"Fuck…that stung! Well, at least it's going to sanitize the wound…" Kitty commented.

After applying some pressure with her hand, Kitty quickly tried to figure out the best course of action for the moment. _The bleeding is still too heavy! I don't think applying pressure will do any good—I'll bleed out before I can get any real help!_ Kitty thought, tears threatening to spill at the thought of bleeding to death. _Shit…I have to cauterize the wound!_ Kitty realized as she moved her hand away from her wound to see that the blood flow was not showing any sign of slowing down. So, after taking a few gulps of the leftover vodka, she took her lighter and knife, and began to heat the knife with the lighter until the blade started to turn red and was very hot to the touch. "Shit, shit, shit, shit! I'm not going to like this!" she said to herself as the alcohol began to take some effect on her.

Before Kitty even attempted to place the hot blade in the large whole in her leg, which she previously placed a clean but damp sock in, in an attempt to dry the wound a little, Kitty searched through her backpack for something to place in her mouth that would keep her from screaming too loud. After finding another pair of socks, Kitty placed one of the socks in her mouth and prepared herself for the painful attempt at sealing the wound. With the alcohol numbing her senses, Kitty quickly placed the hot blade against the wound and tried to keep her hand steady enough so that the wound was burnt enough to seal itself. She clenched her teeth and released the most horrid noises as she forced her hand to keep the blade steady until the job was done. After successfully cauterizing the wound, Kitty dropped the knife and clenched her fists as she continued to cry out in pain, despite the sock in her mouth that muffled the cry. Wanting it all to be over, Kitty quickly poured some more vodka onto the wound, before searching for the Polysporin to cover the burn.

_Relax, Kitty, it's over, it's all over, you're past the worst of it…now all you have to do is dress the wound_…she thought, crying uncontrollably as the pain proved to be too much for the delicate girl. "Oh fuck!" Kitty roared as the sock fell out of her mouth a moment later.

Kitty spent the next few moments crying while placing the Polysporin over the wound before wrapping it securely with gauze and then a wrap. With that done, Kitty laid back on the rock and tried to calm herself before even attempting to figure out what she should do next. She knew that she wanted to go find Jean, but also knew that it was probably best to stay in one place and wait for Jean to find her, since Jean was a telepath. How hard could it be for a telepath to find someone? And as Kitty laid there in thought, she suddenly remembered that she still had the tent she shared with Steph, which was stuffed in a small casing and tied to her backpack.

_Maybe I should stay here for the night…I have the tent, which shouldn't be that wet since it was packed in a waterproof casing. And then, first thing tomorrow morning, I'll go looking for Jean_, Kitty thought, but a large part of her still wanted to go out and find her beloved doctor. But her common sense reminded her that it was probably a waste of time…that Jean may be alright and already trying to find the girl with the help of her telepathy. Kitty didn't know for sure, but all she knew was that she had better make up her mind before the sun went down, which only gave her a couple more hours by the looks of things.

But no matter how hard she tried, Kitty couldn't get Jean out of her head. All she could think about was Jean laying unconscious somewhere, and needing her help. And as Kitty studied the contents of her bag, especially checking the condition of her tent, she tried to keep herself calm, as the very thought of Jean hurt brought tears to her eyes. _I should stay here…Jean will be ok_, Kitty tried to reassure herself as she took her tent out and studied it closely for any signs of scratches or holes or any other signs of damage. _The tent looks fine…it's just a little wet--along with my other stuff_, Kitty thought as she quickly put the tent back into its small casing before tying it back onto her backpack. When she finally tied the tent casing back onto the backpack, she looked to her left to find what appeared to be Jean's backpack floating in the shallows.

"Holy shit…" Kitty muttered as she carefully made her way down the rock and towards the partially floating bag. With Jean's backpack in her hands, and her backpack on her back, Kitty finally made a decision. "This is probably the dumbest thing I could ever do in a situation like this…but I've got to find Jean. I've got to find you, Jean…" Kitty said to an absent Jean, as she slowly began to make her away along the shoreline, looking from side to side in search of Jean. Finding that it was too difficult to carry both her backpack and Jean's, which was in her hand, Kitty dropped Jean's bag to the ground and continued on. Feeling bad for having to abandon Jean's belongings, Kitty kept on moving, stopping only to pick up a large stick, which she then used as a walking stick.

Tired, hurt, and slightly discouraged, Kitty was about to stop for a break when something caught her eye. "Oh, my God…" she uttered in shock, her eyes wide and mouth hung open as her eyes fell upon the unconscious form of Jean Grey, who was lying face down on the sandy surface on the other side of the river. "JEAN!" Kitty exclaimed as she quickly picked up the pace and attempted to jump into the water to swim to the other side to be with Jean. But, obviously, she knew better than that. Kitty stopped for a second to check her surroundings for any way to get across to the other side of the river without falling in. _Come on! There has to be a way to the other side_…Kitty thought, tearing up slightly in frustration as she searched around her for anything that could help her get across to Jean. _Come on…come on…there has to be a way—I'm a fucking honor student, for Christ sakes!_ Kitty scolded herself, her mind racing with ideas—none of which that would logically get her safely from one side of the river to the other without falling victim to the current like before.

She was about to cry out in frustration when an idea struck her. _Those rocks over there…they must be the ones that I got smashed up against on my way down this river_…Kitty thought as her mind quickly brought her back to the event. _This is a particularly rocky part of the river…it's a long shot, but I think I might be able to hop my way from rock to rock until I get to the other side!_ Kitty revealed happily, her eyes wide as she quickly studied each rock that was partly submerged in the river. _Looks like I can definitely make it to at least half way…but after that it looks like I'll be taking a major chance! Those last few rocks look too far apart for me to jump to—not to mention that my leg is too sore to even try jumping that far! _Kitty realized, her mind working out the bugs to her plan. _Unless…yes, that log over there…it looks at least twice as long as the river's width! It looks strong too. I wonder if I can use that log for an advantage_, she thought as she limped towards the log she was referring to, and studied it closely. As she studied the log and the river, she silently worked out the possibility that if she were to push the log into the river, that the current would force it against the first rock closest to her, and the rock on the other side, the one closest to Jean. _It might work_…Kitty thought, her emotions in check, as she knew that if she wanted to save Jean, she would need to keep her focus. _Yes, all I have to do is push this log into the water…and the current should force the log against those two rocks…and as I hop along the first few rocks…I'll have to get myself into the water and slowly inch myself the rest of the way until I reach the shallows…from there I should make it to Jean safely!_ Kitty concluded proudly, her plan seemingly full proof.

After pushing the log into the water, with great effort for someone of such small frame, Kitty watched as the current forced the log against the two parallel rocks, creating a sort of bridge between the two sides of the river. "Great! That was only extremely difficult for someone my size…" Kitty commented, panting heavily and sweating furiously as she marveled at her own work for a moment, before moving towards the first rock. _Nice and easy, Kitty. I know you want to get to Jean as fast as you can…but, one wrong move and it could be your last!_ Kitty told herself as she painfully stepped onto the first rock. "Not to mention that this is probably going to hurt…" Kitty commented as she quickly, but carefully, hopped to the next partly submerged rock.

"OUCH!" she exclaimed as the impact from landing on her hurt leg caused a shock wave of pain up her leg. _Wow that hurt_… Kitty thought before forcing herself to hop to the next partly submerged rock, only to suffer the same pain as the first time she hopped. "Christ!" she exclaimed, grunting slightly before preparing herself to jump for the finale time, before moving onto the next and more dangerous part of her plan.

After taking a few deep breaths, Kitty hopped to another rock. _Ok, so now that the rock hopping is over…it's time for the dangerous part!_ Kitty thought as she prepared herself for the next task, before a thought came to her. _I don't want to inch my way across this log with my heavy backpack on. I wonder if I can throw my backpack to where Jean is from here. Oh well…I might as well give it a try_…she thought as she carefully pulled her backpack off only to throw it as far as she could towards Jean. "Yes!" Kitty responded happily as she watched her backpack fall to the other side of the river, next to Jean. _Ok, back to the dangerous part_… Kitty reminded herself before slowly inching herself into the water. As soon as she could do so, Kitty grasped onto the log and quickly inched herself in the direction of land, where Jean awaited her. "I'm coming, Jean!" Kitty called out, determination evident in her eyes as she soon made her way towards land.

When Kitty finally made it to land, she heaved her tired body up towards Jean, who continued to lay face first in the sandy but rocky land. "Jean? Jean, are you ok?" Kitty asked as she moved towards her crush. "Answer me…" she begged, as she moved Jean onto her back. _Oh my God…is_ _she breathing?_ Kitty asked herself, dread now overlapping her usually cheerful face as panic destroyed her previously calm emotions. "Jean..!? Jean, are you ok?" The girl put her hand over Jean's mouth, searching for any sign that breath was coming from Jean's perfect mouth. But even if there was…it was so faint that Kitty could hardly feel it. "Jean…Jean! Jean! Wake up! Don't do this to me!" Kitty exclaimed frantically before placing her ear to Jean's chest, in the hopes to hear her beating heart…which grew fainter and fainter by the moment. "Jean, please don't die…" Kitty begged tears, streaming down her eyes as her two fingers went to monitor Jean's ever so faint pulse. "No! I can't let you go!" she confessed, her tears flowing freely from her eyes as she parted Jean's lips before performing CPR.

And even if it was a weak attempt, Kitty kept trying. Moving from blowing air into Jean's lungs, to pushing it out by placing her two hands where they were needed, as she continued to perform CPR to the best of her ability. She kept trying, over and over again, refusing to give up hope. She yelled at Jean a few times, her anger and unwillingness to let Jean go resurfacing as her fear for Jean's life deepened with each silent response on Jean's part. And as Jean's heart grew fainter…Kitty's heart promised to beat for her, as the girl refused to let death take Jean away. But can you really win a fight against death?

_**Authors Note:**_ I'm not a doctor, so I don't know how realistic cauterizing a heavily bleeding wound would be…but, for the sake of this chapter lets pretend that it is lol.


	11. Resurrection

_**Resurrection **_

Kitty parted Jean's lips, checked for any obstructions within Jean's mouth then placed her lips over Jean's, and blew air down her throat five times, each time verifying that Jean's chest was filling. She then moved her hands, one over the other with fingers interlocked, and placed them over the center of Jean's chest, right over her heart, and pushed down, then releasing, pressing and releasing four more times just like she had been taught in her CPR class. She continued with her lifesaving procedure. She had been going at it for what seemed like hours, seeming with little success, but Kitty refused to give up. She wouldn't give, how could she? And as she placed her lips over Jean's parted ones, she blew more air down her throat, and was about to move her hands back to Jean's chest when suddenly, Jean lurched into motion, vomiting a dirty mix of water, dirt, and blood, narrowly missing Kitty, who had jumped back the moment Jean moved.

"Jean?!" Kitty managed to say as she soon moved to kneel by Jean's side, watching as the doctor struggled to breath against her coughing and spitting up water.

Kitty's eyes brightened, and her smile widened as a look of relief came over her at the sight of Jean being awake.

"Jean, you're ok—Jean? No, Jean, stay with me!" Kitty interrupted herself as she watched Jean collapse back to the sandy ground, her eyes closed and breathing ragged. Kitty tried to shake the doctor awake. "No, no, come on, Jean, don't do this to me! You've got to stay awake, ok? We have to get to some safe ground before the water rises, ok? Not to mention that it's starting to get a little chilly out and we should definitely make a fire before we both catch our deaths from the cold…" Kitty explained, but without much, as her audience slipped back into unconsciousness, as her aching body demanded rest. "Shit!" Kitty exclaimed in response to Jean's condition. Her leg was throbbing and her body shivered as the evening chill began to rustle through the leaves and the trees, and against her soaked body.

"Well, at least I know she's alive…" Kitty commented as she watched Jean's chest rise and fall with some difficulty. _How am I going to get her_ _to a safe distance?_ Kitty mused to herself with a deep sigh, her mind desperately working out a plan as her eyes moved to scan her new location.

As Kitty quickly planned out the best possible way to move the unconscious and exhausted Jean to a better location, Jean was deep in the privacy of her mind.

"_**I'm so tired…" Jean commented, her mind a haze as her mental self struggled to regain some consciousness despite the current circumstances. What happened? I don't remember…her mind trailed off, her mental self formed into perfect form, floating about in the darkness of her mind. **_

_**Her mind, although tired and weak, struggled to regain enough mobility as to help her answer a few of her questions. Her mind cleared slightly, allowing Jean's memory to flow through, thus showing her exactly what her disorientation had stolen from her. **_

"_**What happened to me?" she asked herself, as well as her mind, which then brought to her the memory of her argument with Kitty by the river's edge. **_

_**As she floated in mid air, she watched as her mind played out each detail that occurred at that moment, which ultimately led to her current situation. As she listened and watched her argument with Kitty, she couldn't help but gasp as she watched herself shove Kitty into the water. **_

"_**Oh, God… How could I have been so stupid?" Jean commented as she watched the pleading Kitty travel down the river, and briefly grasping onto her, who was now in the water holding tightly onto Kitty in a means of protecting the girl. **_

_**Jean's mental eyes widened as she watched as Kitty and she traveled over the waterfall and being submerged in the cold, harsh current of the river. "Oh, my God…" Jean whispered, her mind echoing her words back to her. As she watched her body, being pulled along the river, smashing up against a rock, causing her to be knocked out for a moment, Jean could hardly believe her eyes. And as she watched her mind's blurring rendition of what happened next, Jean was suddenly somewhat aware of the fact that her body, and not to the one in the memory, was moving. **_

"_**What? Am I moving? Why am I moving, I'm not even conscious…I think?" Jean questioned as she tried to figure out what was happening. **_

_**Her eyes returned their full attention to her memory after a moment, as the memory begged for her attention so it could bring her up to speed as to what had happened to her. As Jean watched her body, through the memory, being washed up on shore, realization occurred to her when her next memory revealed an exasperated Kitty, urging her to keep awake and to keep breathing. **_

"_**Kitty…" Jean muttered, her pulse quickening as she watched the blurring memory of Kitty kneeling next to her, her appearance beaten and tired. "Kitty…" she murmured, her tired mind throbbing as it found itself too exhausted to continue thinking, at least for the moment. As Jean's mental self whispered Kitty's name and apologies directed towards the girl, Jean's mental self soon quieted, and slipped further and further into unconsciousness. **_

With one last pull, Kitty dragged Jean's body one last step before letting Jean's body rest on a clear and smooth spot in the sheltered area of the woods. Kitty had dragged Jean's body a good distance from the shoreline with great difficulty, but with her great determination, Kitty managed to drag Jean's body to a safe location, where Kitty planned to set up camp for the night. Since Kitty couldn't drag Jean while carrying her backpack, she had briefly left her backpack on the shoreline. So, after making sure that Jean would be ok for the moment, she quickly stumbled her way back to the shoreline in search of her backpack with all of the camp gear inside. Once she found her backpack, Kitty quickly returned, and let her backpack fall to the ground, she quickly collapsing next to it. She let herself rest for a while, exhausted, sore, and cold, and stared up at the sky, her breath heavy in her chest as her mind raced with worry for Jean and worry for what the future had in store for them.

_Storm obviously knows that Jean and I are gone. But…does she even have a clue as to where we could be?_ Kitty asked herself as she looked up into the sky to watch the sun slowly set. _I should get up. I know I'm tired, but I can't rest until I get a fire going and I get the tent up_, her thoughts continued, her leg throbbing with pain as she tried to rise from her position. "Come on, Kitty, no time for lying around! I must take care of Jean—that's my number one concern…" Kitty told herself out loud, as she grabbed for a near by walking stick, and began her journey into the woods in search of firewood.

"Kitty…" Jean murmured softly, but much too softly for Kitty to hear, as the girl continued on walking, leaving Jean alone in the woods, for the moment at least.


	12. Managing

_**Managing **_

Still feeling the strong hold of exhaustion, Jean's heavy eyelids slowly lifted. But after a few moments of trying, her eyes remained shut, as sleep attempted to pull her back into unconsciousness. Fortunately for her, and her stomach, the smell of food entered her nostrils and encouraged the doctor to open her eyes.

"Mmm…" Jean murmured her head spinning as she lifted her head to view the plate left in front of her. _Fish..? Where the hell did this come from?_ Jean thought as she steadied herself while attempting to sit up straight.

Her stomach growled hungrily, as the smell of the cooked fish reminded her just how long it must have been since she last ate. So, Jean grabbed the plate and the fork, which was placed on the plate next to the fish, and feasted upon it hungrily. She was so busy devouring her food that she didn't even notice the sleeping Kitty on the other side of the fire. It was only when Jean had finished her meal that she noticed the young girl, and quickly felt guilty for not noticing her before.

"Kitty?" she called out softly, placing the empty plate and fork down next to her.

When Kitty didn't reply, Jean quickly moved to sit next to the sleeping girl.

"Kitty?" she called out again, her hands giving Kitty a little shake, before stopping when she noticed the bandaged wound on the girl's leg. _What's this? Kitty hurt herself? _Jean thought as she studied the bandage. _I should take a quick look—just to see how bad it is_…she concluded as she carefully removed the bandage. "Holy shit!" she commented out loud when her eyes met the cauterized wound on Kitty's leg.

"Uh..?" Kitty mumbled sleepily, awakened by Jean's last comment. Jean's attention moved from Kitty's wound to Kitty's confused expression. "Jean? What are you doing?" Kitty asked as she moved to sit up.

Jean flashed the girl an expression of worry and annoyance as she replied, "What does it look like? I'm checking your wound."

Kitty sighed heavily as she rolled her eyes in response to Jean's tone. "And we're back…"

"What?"

"Nothing..!" Kitty quickly replied in an attempt to avoid another argument with Jean. There was a moment of silence as Jean studied Kitty's wound while Kitty tried not to make the pain from Jean touching her wound too obvious. "Is it septic?" she asked worriedly. "I mean, I tried to keep the wound as clean as I could…" she added as Jean shot her a reassuring glance.

"It looks fine to me—for now at least…" Jean verbally assured as she continued to study the ugly wound. "But it looks like you're going to have one hell of an ugly scar—but you'll definitely keep the leg," Jean added, as she couldn't help but admire how well Kitty took care of the obviously bad wound.

"Thank God," Kitty commented in relief then moved forward to take a closer look since Jean continued to marvel at her handiwork.

"You cauterized the wound!"

"Yeah, I uh, it was bleeding pretty hard…and I…thought that the only way to stop the bleeding was to cauterize—did I do the right thing?" Kitty responded worriedly, her gaze moving from her wound to Jean's pleased expression.

"Well, I would have encouraged you to apply pressure and keep the wound tightly wrapped…but I think, under the circumstances, you made the right call," Jean answered as she turned to grab Kitty's backpack. "I'm very pleased with your handiwork. I can't imagine how painful it must have been—most people wouldn't have been able to put themselves through this type of pain, willingly…" Jean explained as she searched Kitty's bag. "The bandages are in here, right?" she asked as she searched the side pockets of Kitty's bag.

"They're right here…" Kitty responded quickly, reaching behind her to grab for the bag that contained the med-kit.

Jean removed her hand from Kitty's backpack then reached for the med-kit in Kitty's small hand. As Jean opened the bag and quickly got out what she needed, she answered the girl with a polite smile.

"I was just about to clean the wound again…but I guess I fell asleep," Kitty explained, shrugging her shoulders in response while leaning back and watched the doctor skillfully dress the ugly wound.

"That's ok. I guess you earned your right to have a nap—after all, you did find us a great camp site, built us a warm fire, cooked us a meal, and…" Jean paused to look up into Kitty's tired eyes before continuing. "…you saved my life."

The look in Jean's eyes was intense, and the intensity affected Kitty in an unexpected way. The young girl looked back into Jean's kind and thankful eyes—unable to look away from the power and feeling that Jean's eyes sent her way.

"No problem…" Kitty shrugged off, her eyes finally able to break away from Jean's influence, a gentle yet childish laugh showing the young girl's current discomfort.

But Jean didn't care, the truth of what Kitty had done blocked out any and everything but the fact that a little girl was able to do so much under the current and difficult situation. Jean was more than a little bit affected by the obvious willpower, and intelligence that was added to the girl's overwhelming courage. And with her eyes still firmly planted on Kitty's stature, Jean found her mind swarming with questions.

"It is a problem…" Jean muttered breathlessly, her eyes looking away from Kitty long enough to apply the finishing touches on her wound, before returning to Kitty's now offended expression.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Kitty demanded, obviously offended by the idea that Jean was ungrateful for all that she had done for the older woman.

Jean chuckled softly when she realized that the girl had taken her comment the wrong way, and quickly attempted to explain herself. "I didn't mean that I wasn't grateful for what you did…" she began, her hands pulling down the pant leg of Kitty's jeans over the now dressed wound.

"Then what _did_ you mean?" Kitty asked her muscles tense as she watched Jean's eyes meet her gaze calmly.

"I meant…" Jean began, moving so that she could sit next to Kitty rather than kneel uncomfortably on the cold dirt and rocky ground. "…it is a problem, that you saved me, because I have no idea how I'm going to repay the favor," she explained, a look of awe and a gentle reassuring smile brightening her exhausted features as she took in Kitty's reaction to her words.

_Repay the favor? _Kitty thought, biting her bottom lip as another thought answered Jean's statement._ I know how you can repay the favor, Jean. You can start by placing those sweet cherry-colored lips on mine. I wouldn't mind if you held me right now either. Hell, to top it off, you can wear that sexy lingerie I bought you… Stop it, Kitty, that's enough!_ Kitty interrupted her thoughts, jerking into attention at the realization that she was having another 'very' inappropriate thought about Jean. _Bad, Kitty! Jean isn't interested. Besides…do you really want Jean to do any of those things after all the shit she said to you? Did you actually forget what you told Jean the other day?_

"Kitty, are you ok?" Jean asked with a look of concern, her eyebrows burrowed as she waited for Kitty to return to planet Earth.

With the sound of Jean's voice interrupting her thoughts, Kitty jerked into full attention. "Huh? Oh, right, uh, sorry…I guess I spaced out for a second," she answered with a weak smirk, her eyes looking away from Jean who smiled back.

"Well, I don't doubt that, you must be tired. We've had a long day—especially you," Jean replied with a nod, her expression not revealing whether or not she'd heard what Kitty had been thinking, much to Kitty's relief. "So, I see you got the tent out…" Jean commented as she rose to stand on her wobbly legs.

"Uh, yeah, I tried to dry it out…" Kitty answered, reaching for a couple pieces of wood and skillfully placing them in the fire.

Jean made her way towards the tent, feeling the outside and inside of the tent to discover the tent to be mostly dry. She looked inside it and sighed as she turned to study the area around her as she spoke. "The tent is pretty small. How on earth did you and Stephanie manage to fit in it?"

Kitty turned to look up at Jean, who began to comb her hair with her long, thin fingers, her eyes staring straight ahead. "I don't know…it wasn't really that tight of a fit for the both of us. We usually left half our stuff in that supply tent—so it worked out alright for us," Kitty answered with a shrug before returning her attention to the fire.

"Oh," Jean replied, her arms crossed as a small gust of cold wind left her feeling cold. "Well, I guess it'll work out. We only have your stuff, so I guess it'll work out…" Jean stated positively as she made her towards the warmth of the fire. "Do we have anymore blankets?" she asked as she sat down next to an uncomfortable Kitty. "And what about sleeping bags? Do you have yours?" she added, her hands extending towards the fire in an attempt to warm up her chilled hands.

"I, uh, I think we have two blankets. I used both of them to keep you warm while I was out getting firewood and food…" Kitty responded thoughtfully, pausing for a moment to ponder Jean's next question. "And I'm pretty sure most of my clothes and stuff are dried by now, so we can, I don't know, wrap ourselves up in them?"

"Ok, cool, that should help keep us warm…" Jean commented, watching as Kitty shivered slightly.

"And as for a sleeping bag…I found mine drifting along the shoreline a couple hours back while I was fishing. So I brought it back and hung it on this clothesline I made with the string I found in my backpack. It should be dry now…hopefully…"

"Well, that's great, Kitty," Jean replied lowly, her mind worrying about the chances of the two getting hyperthermia.

Knowing what Jean must have been thinking, Kitty quickly rushed to sooth Jean's worries. "I know it's going to be weird, but…I was thinking…that…" Kitty began, her heart thumping in her chest as she struggled to utter the rest of her sentence while Jean watched the girl curiously. "I was thinking that we could share my sleeping bag—it's big enough to fit us both—but it'll be a tight fit—and I promise to be appropriate and respectful! It's just for one night or until we can get help…" Kitty finished, her stomach tying into little knots as she expected the worst response ever from Jean.

"It's ok, Kitty," Jean began, an uncomfortable smile spreading her lips as she suddenly felt a curious feeling of excitement at the idea of sleeping so close to the girl. "I understand. Besides, it is a _one_ time thing—and we're in a situation where we _have_ to _manage_…where our very survival counts on it, right?" Jean replied with a question, her eyes capturing Kitty's innocence.

"Right, we'll just have to _manage_…" Kitty whispered as she to begin to feel the excitement of sleeping so close to Jean, despite the anger she still felt towards the woman.

After the fire was put out, and Kitty's clothes and sleeping bag were dry and placed in the tent, Jean and Kitty entered the tent in silence. Kitty silently unzipped the sleeping bag all the way before slipping inside, lying flat on her back, and waited for Jean to lie next to her.

_Ok, not too difficult…oh God, she's a little more than too close for comfort!_ Kitty mentally complained as she felt Jean press against her.

With the sleeping bag opened wide, Jean grabbed for the two blankets and handed one to Kitty. "Here, Kitty, you wrap yourself up in this blanket and I'll wrap myself up in this one…after that we'll have to huddle close together in order for us to fit in this sleeping bag…" she explained as she watched Kitty grab hold of the blanket.

After the two women wrapped themselves up in the two blankets, they uneasily laid back down next to each other before Jean quickly zipped up the sleeping bag as best as she could. Now laying so close to each other, with Kitty on her side facing one direction, and Jean on her side facing the other direction, the two struggled to get comfortable.

"Cold night," Jean commented, earning her a knowing smile from the now shivering Kitty, who continued to remain silent. "Well, goodnight, Kitty," Jean added, her heart pounding in her chest at the notion of Kitty's close presence. "See you in the morning…"

"Good night..." Kitty responded unsurely, pausing for a moment to try to control her rapidly beating heart and her somewhat unregulated breaths. "Ms. Grey…" Kitty finished, being mindful to call Jean by her desired name and not the name that Kitty was forbidden to use.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, the two women soon found themselves soothed into sleep by the calming sound of the gentle wind against the branches, and the crickets outside their tent, with the occasional hoot from the owl that stood watch over them.


	13. When Morning Came

_**When Morning Came **_

When morning came, Jean awoke to find herself alone in the tent she shared with Kitty. With slight alarm, Jean opened the tent and stepped outside to great the refreshing morning air, desperately searching for any sign of Kitty.

"Kitty?" Jean hollered, her eyes darting from one location to the other, her ears focused on any possible response from the girl.

When she didn't hear any sort of response, she focused her telekinetic abilities to reach out to the area around her in search of Kitty. She focused as hard as she could and tried to control her fear that something had happen to the petite mutant and focus on finding her location. _Where are you?_ Jean asked herself, she focused harder to find the girl and when she finally did she couldn't help but release a big sigh of relief. When she got Kitty's exact location, she quickly made her way towards Kitty's position. Jean followed the pathway that would bring her to Kitty, but was dumbfounded when she arrived at her location only to see that Kitty wasn't there.

"What?" Jean muttered to herself in confusion. _I sensed her, I followed her trail—I can even sense her now… but where is she? _

"Ms. Grey? Is that you?" Came the all to familiar voice that seemed to be coming from high above.

Jean sensed that the voice was coming from a tall tree beside her, she looked up to find Kitty high up on a tree branch. Afraid that Kitty may fall and hurt herself, Jean answered Kitty's question with a short reply, "Kitty? Get down from there! You'll fall and crack your head open!"

"Thanks for your concern…" Kitty replied coolly, as she began to maneuver her way down the tree to stand next to an annoyed Jean Grey.

When Kitty finally reached the ground, she dusted herself off, removed some of the pine needles that were lodged in her hair, and then flashed Jean a brief look before promptly choosing to look at something other than Jean's face.

"Morning…" Kitty said as she slowly began to walk back towards their campsite.

"Where are you going?" Jean asked, curious at Kitty's cold demeanor.

Kitty didn't even stop walking as she briefly answered the attractive doctor's question, "back to the campsite"

Jean huffed in annoyance as she soon followed Kitty back to the campsite, her heart a little wounded at the younger girl's uncharacteristic personality change. When they both arrived at the campsite, Jean watched as the younger girl reached for her water bottle and took a long swig of it.

"What were you doing up in that tree?" Jean asked calmly

Kitty glanced at her quickly before answering her teacher's question, "was trying to see if I could find the trail that will take us back to our campsite with the others." After saying that she promptly took a seat on the ground as she watched Jean move to sit next to her.

"And what did you find?" Jean asked, her eyes studying Kitty's young features as she waited for Kitty's response.

"Uh, I think I may have found a trail that can lead us back to the others. Though I'm not sure that my leg can make the journey…its quite a distance…" Kitty admitted, as she met Jean's gaze with a slightly worried look.

"Damn…" Jean responded with a hush, before remembering Kitty's hurt leg. "Kitty, let me have a look at your leg…I want to be sure that the wound isn't starting to get infected" and with that she reached out towards the young girls leg.

"Uh, ok, Ms. Grey…" Kitty answered with a slight disturbance in her voice. She didn't much like the idea of Jean touching her—mostly because she was still mad at her teacher…but mostly it was because the idea of Jean touching her made her heart skip a beat.

She didn't want Jean to see what kind of reaction she'd get when she did something as innocent as just touching her. All Kitty wanted right now was to get back to the mansion, and forget about everything she felt for her beautiful teacher. Letting Jean touch her was just too much for the young girl to handle—since she wasn't 100% successful at eliminating her feelings for Jean at the moment, but she had to accept the fact that Jean was a doctor, and Kitty was hurt, thus, she needed Jean's expertise to help her get past the difficult task of getting back to the others, alive. So when Jean began to roll up Kitty's pant leg—it took all the self control Kitty had to keep herself from kissing Jean.

"…Wow…" Jean commented, regretting it instantly when she realized how her tone of voice would cause panic in the younger girl.

"What's wrong?" Kitty responded with a slight nervous hitch in her voice.

"…Everything is going to be fine, Kitty." Jean responded, noting Kitty's alarmed expression and trying to be quick to assure the girl. "…I'm not going to lie…it looks really red and starting to look infectious. We need to get you back to my lab as soon as possible before anything gets worse." Jean finished, her eyes studying Kitty's reaction.

"Oh, ok, yeah sure. Well, I guess our best option will be to keep moving—pack up our things and try to make our way back to the others. Its better to keep moving then to stay here twiddling out thumbs waiting for my leg to get worse—"

"Everything will be fine, Kitty, don't worry—"

"I know, I'm just trying to be realistic. We need to be realistic. We cant expect to be found if we don't even try to get back to the others when we have the chance. I know they say that if you are lost that its best to stay in one place till help finds you…but we have a path that will take us back to the others and we cant afford to wait around—as you say, my leg is starting to become infectious. And since its my leg at stake…I say that we take a chance and move onwards." Kitty replied, her facial expression set with determination, which was a characteristic that Jean had always admired in the younger girl.

Jean took a moment to study the girl before responding. She knew that it would ordinarily be best to just wait it out till the others found them—but she couldn't help but admit that Kitty was right about their current situation. Kitty was hurt, the wound was beginning to become infected, she had no medical supplies that would be helpful at the moment, and Kitty had already taken the initiative to finding a trail that would take them both back to the original camp site. Against all common sense, Jean decided to agree with the girl and soon enough the two packed up their things and were on their way towards the trail that would lead them back to the others—hopefully.

As the minutes turned into silent hours, the two mutants continued their trek towards the others—for whom were undoubtedly worried sick about them. The silence between them was not only based on the uncomfortable situation between the two—but that their focus was on the task of finding their way home, safely.

It had been a mere 6 hours since they left their campsite; Jean and Kitty were both drenched in sweat as they tried to keep a steady pace. Kitty estimated that they were likely halfway towards their destination so that knowledge had given both women some encouragement. It was decided that Kitty would be the one to guide their way through the path, since she was the one who discovered it, while Jean would use some of her concentration to seek out the others with her telepathy in the hopes that she would be able to contact someone and tell them their position. In theory, it was a good tactic—but unfortunately Jean's telepathy was only useable at certain distances, which frustrated Jean as she made a quick mental note to work harder on her telepathy when she and Kitty would eventually get back to the mansion. The two women continued their walk for another hour before Jean, feeling exhausted and assumed that Kitty was too, decided that she needed a break.

"Hey, Kitty, lets take a break" Jean voiced as she slowed her pace before coming to a complete stop and then dropping her bag to the ground. She waited for Kitty's response and was slightly annoyed as she watched Kitty continue her pace—apparently either not responding because she didn't hear Jean or because the girl was ignoring her. As Jean watched Kitty move further and further away, Jean's calm mood quickly turned to a not so pleasant one as she called out sternly, "Kitty! Come on! We've been walking for hours—I need a break! And come to think of it—you need one too!"

At this, Kitty quickly looked back—her expression snobby as she answered her teacher with a tone to match, "I'm not tired. We need to keep moving. I want to get back home as soon as humanly possible. If you want to sit around and waste precious time then that's your prerogative."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jean responded flabbergasted

"It means…that I guess I'll see you back at the mansion—"

"Kitty get back here right now!" Jean replied angrily, her body tensing with anger. As she watched her young student continue to walk away from her—apparently unaffected by Jean's command.

"No" Kitty replied as she kept going, her pace quickening.

Jean, out of furry, ran towards the girl who—before she could even turn around—found herself in the arms of her teacher. Jean forcefully held the smaller girl towards her and when Kitty struggled Jean easily picked the girl up and partly dragged her back towards Jean's awaiting knapsack.

"You will do as I say!" Jean stated in a huff as the girl in her arms continued to struggle.

"Let me fucking go!" Kitty roared with anger as she struggled as hard as she could to get out of her teachers hold.

Jean refused to let the girl go and even began to tighten her hold on Kitty before the girl managed to trip Jean in an attempt to get away. As Jean fell, she took Kitty with her as they both fell to the ground with Jean on her back and Kitty on top of her. Their faces inches apart as the two continued to struggle for dominance over the other. At one point they were rolling around on the ground as the fight continued—Kitty tried with all her might to gain freedom but was no match for the taller, stronger, and angrier Jean Grey.

"No! We are taking a fucking break even if it means I have to physically hold you down in order to do so!" Jean replied angrily as the girl began to lose some steam as her tired muscles began to slow her attempts at escape.

"You'll have to let me go sooner or later" Kitty responded boldly, her anger towards her teacher was strangely mixed with the feeling of arousal as it came apparent that she was ever so close to the perfectly lean body of Jean Grey. As the feeling of sexual frustration and arousal began to become more apparent in the young girl she tried her best to dismiss it as she continued to show some forms of resistance against her teacher.

Jean, still holding the girl tightly, was also having a hard time dismissing the sexual frustration that was building to explosive levels between herself and the girl. She too was trying her best to disregard that feeling, but it was growing more difficult by the moment. At this point, Jean could start to feel that Kitty was growing tired as the girl's resistance was wearing thin. She considered the idea of letting the girl go but decided against it until she was sure that Kitty wasn't just going to run from her again.

It was a moment later that Jean finally responded to the girl's statement with her own, "You're right, I cant hold you like this forever…but I can sure as hell sit on you when my arms get tired!"

Kitty scowled at this and replied with the only thing she could think of saying at the moment, "I hate you" and as soon as those words left her mouth she instantly regretted them.

Jean's heart broke, which surprised her, though unfortunately for Kitty, Jean's hold on her didn't. As Kitty's words continued to echo in Jean's mind, she responded to Kitty's response with her own venom-ness words, "…and I hate you"

Kitty felt the stinging words and secretly chastised herself for letting Jean's words hurt her. She looked down into Jean's eyes and tried to jerk out of her teachers arms before relaxing slightly out of pure exhaustion. It would be Jean's next words that would add a new element to the palpable emotions emanating from the two like a poisonous gas.

"I don't think you hate me anyways—"

"oh yeah? What gives you that idea?"

"Because…" Jean began, moving her hands a little higher up the girls back when she realized how dangerously close her hands were to the girl's lower back and ass. "…because if you did really hate me you wouldn't have bothered getting down and dirty with me in this fight…you would have fazed out of my touch the moment I touched you. But you didn't."

Kitty's eyes widened at the realization as she privately wondered why on earth she didn't think of fazing out of Jean's hold.

"I just didn't think of it at the time…" The young girl tried to explain, stammering slightly.

Jean grinned in some odd form of triumph over the girl as she said, "admit it, you didn't faze because you wanted us to physically fight. You want to be close to me—to feel my weight on you, to feel my arms around you, to smell my scent. You wanted to drive me crazy—you wanted to enjoy driving me crazy and watch the end result." _Whoa where is this coming from?_ Jean thought as soon as she finished her statement to Kitty.

Kitty was so completely taken aback by Jean's statement that she completely abandoned her attempt at escaping Jean's hold. This gave Jean the moment she needed to get a firmer hold on the girl, and when she felt Kitty's resistance fading, she wrapped her legs around the girl to get more stability over the girl who was still in shock. Jean smiled in triumph as she waited for the younger girl to respond, choosing to disregard her last statement as being anything less than a strange thing to say to girl whose affections she was so desperately trying to break.

When Kitty finally responded, it was Jean's turn to feel that same shock, "This coming from the women who is holding her under aged student unnecessarily close to her breasts for an unnecessary period of time."

Jean jerked her head in surprise after hearing Kitty's remark as she finally took notice to how her hold on the girl was not exactly innocent… she noted that the much smaller girl was in fact resting her head dangerously (and inappropriately) close to Jean's breasts. She also noted how the position she had the girl in would, if sex obsessed onlookers where nearby, would look as if Jean had the girl in the missionary position, if not for the clothes of course. Not knowing what to say, Jean just gulped and shook her head dismissively, as Kitty struggled to ask a question.

"When are you going to let go of me?"

"I don't know yet… I guess when I am sure that you wont run away from me" Jean answered, feeling as though she should release the girl immediately after realizing just how true Kitty's prior insinuation was somewhat factual.

After a moment, Kitty decided that the tempting position she was in with Jean was getting to be too much for her, she didn't want to wait for Jean to let her go nor did she want to give Jean the satisfaction of knowing that she was successful in dominating her. So, without warning, Kitty fazed out of Jean's hold and promptly moved away from her to sit on a nearby rock. A part of her regretted leaving the warmth of Jean's hold—but she was adamant in her attempt to let her feelings for Jean Grey go. And she couldn't exactly do that if she allowed herself to feel and experience the things about Jean Grey that the girl would never have in the romantic nature.

"Not exactly what I had in mind…" Jean replied dryly in response to Kitty's escape from her hold. She herself was also experiencing the loss of Kitty's touch, but was also careful to not let the girl know that. After a moment she picked herself up and sat on the ground away from Kitty.

It was at that moment that Jean suddenly became alert to the feeling that a group of people were walking her way. Her telepathy was picking up on random thoughts and it only took Jean a second to realize what she was picking up on.

"Oh my god."

"What?"

"Kitty, we're saved!" Jean responded happily as Kitty just looked at her as if she were crazy.

Before Kitty could respond, Jean jumped up from her position and started running further down the pathway that would have taken them to their destination. With Kitty following closely, wondering what the hell had gotten into Jean, her puzzlement was solved when up ahead she could make out the forms of Storm and Logan. When Storm and Logan looked up to see Jean and Kitty running towards them they too got caught up in the excitement and immediately ran towards the two haggard women, hollering and expressing their happiness at finding the two missing women.

"Jean!" Logan cried out as he ran up to them and took Jean into his arms for a long appreciative hug, before letting Storm get her turn in welcoming her best friend.

"Kitty!" Logan cried out again as he took notice of her and instantly went to give the same death grip hug to the girl as he just did for Jean. He took the young girl up into his arms and lifted her off the ground—unintentionally cutting of the girl's air supply as his relief overpowered his senses for the moment. When he finally let go, the girl struggled for breath—but was equally relieved to see Logan and Storm.

"We've been looking all over for you guys!" Storm said, her smile showing the level of relief and joy that she was currently feeling.

"Yeah, are you guys alright?" Logan asked, his voice turning serious when he smelled blood off of Kitty. "You're hurt!"

"Yeah…I'm ok, though. Just a flesh wound" Kitty responded as she lifted up her leg slightly to show Logan where she was injured.

Jean, remembering the injury on the girl's leg, quickly responded in a rush doctor like urgency. "Right! How could I forget? Kitty needs to get back to the mansion right away—I need to treat her wound before it gets infected and the poor girl ends up a couple inches shorter than usual—"

"Yes, please, lets prevent that!" Kitty interjected as she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be any shorter than she currently was.

At saying that, the group quickly began their trek back to Logan's awaiting car so they could make their way back to the mansion. As they walked, Logan and Storm explained how when Jean and Kitty went missing, Storm drove the kids back to the mansion before coming back with Logan to search for the two missing X-men. They went on to say how deeply worried they were and explained how they managed to find the two women. Logan explained that he used his magnificent sense of smell to track the two women while Storm maintained the weather for everyone's benefit. Jean and Kitty were deeply thankful for that.

"I think I speak for Kitty and I when I say, 'thanks' for coming to find us. I don't know what we would have done if you guys didn't find us." Jean said thankfully, as the group continued their walk back to the car.

"No problem. And besides, what would we have done without our favorite Doctor and our cute little half pint?" Logan joked as he stole a glance at an annoyed Kitty.

"ha-ha-haaa! Once again with the short jokes. You're a laugh a minute, Logan" Kitty replied with a frown as the other three tried to stifle a laugh.

"Oh, by the way…" Jean cut in, as she began to ask the question that would make the rest of the group uncomfortable. "…Where's Scott?"

Logan briefly looked to Storm, who met his glance with a worried look. Both of which Jean caught and was not about to let them off the hook. After a moment of prompting, Logan answered her question.

"Uh… the professor wanted him to stay back with the kids…" Logan lied as Jean looked at him sternly.

Rule of thumb says that it is never wise to lie to a telepath, unfortunately for Logan—he had yet to learn that rule. And as he shifted uncomfortably and tried to clear his mind of the lie, he was no match for Jean's telepathy.

"…You're lying…"Jean commented, her eyes squinting as the rest of the group shifted uncomfortably at the notion that Scott may soon be a dead man walking. "…What is the real reason as to why Scott isn't here?" She asked again, her telepathy searching for the answer…and when she found it…Jean redefined the word 'wrath'…Scott would soon experience Jean's wrath at the first chance she got.

_**Hey guys I'm back lol. Sorry for the long delay...I've been swamped with work ! In case you guys are wondering...I am not done with the story yet and I plan on continuing on with the story. Part of the reason why it took me so long to get back to writing is because i was also dealing with some serious writers block-but I now have a good idea of where i want this story to go so I'll do my best to not tease you all by updating yearly instead of weekly lol ! sorry about that ! Let me know what you guys think :)**_


	14. Grow a Pair!

_**Grow a pair!**_

"What the hell Scott!" Jean replied loudly after hearing the first lame excuse that came out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, Jean. I just thought that you would be ok out there and that Logan and Storm would find you. –That car show was a once in a life time opportunity! I waited for 6 months for that show!" Scott tried to reason.

Jean just couldn't even begin to understand how Scott could use such a lame excuse. She shook her head, her hands placed firmly on her hips as her muscles flexed with anger.

"So let me get this straight…going to a car show was more important that rescuing your girlfriend from the dangers of being lost in a forest?" Jean said with disbelief

"They weren't just any cars, Jean. They were the classics of classics when it comes to cars! –And I know that if there was a classic shoe show coming into town that you would do the exact same thing! –You obsess over shoes just as much as I obsess over cars—"

"I can't believe you just said that, Scott!" Jean exclaimed, "That has to be the most insensitive thing I have ever heard you say! Oh, and for the record…if I were in your position, I would have gone out and went looking for you for as long as it took until I found you." Jean replied with authority, watching her boyfriend's facial expression for any sign of guilt.

Scott just shook his head and sighed heavily. "Look, I don't know why you are being so unreasonable. After all, you got to have Logan come to the rescue—your knight in shining armor…that's what you really wanted anyways—"

"Don't you dare bring Logan into this" Jean roared with anger, her entire body shaking with rage.

"Whatever" Scott mumbled, averting his gaze away from his visibly upset girlfriend. "It was a win—win situation. I got what I wanted…and you and Logan got what you both wanted…" Scott replied in a whiny tone.

"You know what Scott…" Jean began, unaware of how her rage was beginning to shake objects in the room around her and Scott. "After all these years of being together YOU are still so 'painfully' insecure about our relationship that I can't even understand how we even made it this far—how we made it through all these years together." She paused to let the words sink in, watching how Scott flinched at the accusation before continuing, "…so maybe you should either grow some balls—or maybe its time that one of us walks away from this 'clearly' insecure and unhealthy relationship based on what is 'convenient" rather than true intimacy".

And with that said, Jean exited the room, slamming the door behind her using her heightened telekinesis. She paused outside the bedroom door for a moment as she heard the sound of Scott crying loudly from within the room.

_Oh, geez, Scott's crying like a little girl again…_ Jean thought to herself as she shook her head and rolled her eyes in annoyance. _I guess those 'balls' wont be growing any time soon…_ she continued, as she then remembered that she had to inspect Kitty's injured leg. "Off to the lab I guess…" Jean said out loud, as she began to make her way towards the elevator leading down to the med lab.

As the doors to the med lab opened, Jean quickly took a deep breath as the first thing she saw was Kitty sitting on the lab table. Kitty's eyes moved to meet Jean's, and for a moment Jean could see the look of dread in the girl's eyes, but it quickly went away when the girl looked downwards.

"You look angry…" Kitty murmured, clearly not wanting to deal with Jean's bad side if she could avoid it.

"How long have you been sitting here?" Jean chose to ignore the girl's initial statement. It was clear to Jean that although it was her responsibility to care for the girl, she really wasn't in the mood to be the responsible Dr Jean Grey.

"An hour or so" Kitty answered softly, trying ever so hard not to take notice of how short Jean's skirt was.

"Does your leg hurt?" Jean asked as she brought over some of her medical devices.

"Yes, it burns a bit…" Kitty answered, her eyes looking away from Jean as she felt her teacher roll up the pant leg that was concealing the wound.

"I'll see what I can do for the pain" Jean stated coldly. Appreciating how appropriate Kitty was acting…though also taking note at how the awkwardness as well as the temperature in the room seemed to be at an uncomfortable level.

"I'd expect nothing less…" Kitty replied awkwardly, her eyes trying to look at anything other than Jean.

Jean stopped for a moment to look up at the girl; looking for any hidden meaning behind Kitty's last words. Jean quickly looked away though when Kitty met her gaze as if to silently chastise the older woman for staring, and it was that act that caused a slight blush to form on the doctor's cheeks. The two women let the next few moments pass in silence as Jean worked to examine, disinfect, and wrap up Kitty's injured leg. Not liking how the growing silence in the room was beginning to make the awkwardness more and more evident, Jean decided to try and break the silence with a little bit of friendliness.

"You really did do a great job with this wound, Kitty. Things would have gotten a lot worst if you hadn't of cauterized your leg." Jean complimented.

"Thanks" Kitty whispered, her eyes studying the different medical equipment in the room.

Kitty tried her best to focus on anything other than Jean as a way to deal with the unwanted pleasantness of Jean's touch against her skin. As much as Kitty despised Jean at the moment…she had not yet trained her body to feel the same way. So whenever Jean's long and delicate fingers touched any part of her leg, not to mention feeling her breath against her young flesh…a tingling sensation erupted like fireworks moving from her pelvis and upwards. She cursed herself each time she would feel that tingly pleasurable sensation…and would try to remind herself that she wasn't feeling that way on purpose…but that perhaps it was her body's reaction to just being touched in such a manner…in other words—Kitty was trying to throw herself into the river of denial in her attempt to get over the heart breaker with an MD.

Jean briefly looked up, her green eyes watching Kitty's cold expression, "though I'm sorry to say…you will have an ugly scar—but maybe you can think of it as being a medal of honor of some sort." Jean said with a comforting laugh—her attempt at trying to get the girl to smile. When she saw no reaction on the girl's face, she tried to hide her disappointment as well as annoyance.

"Is my leg infected?" Kitty asked, more so to keep Jean from trying to be 'friendly' and 'light hearted' with her.

"Yes…nothing that some antibiotics can't take care of—so no worries there" Jean answered, as she got up and moved towards the large medicine cabinet located across the room. She snapped off her gloves and threw them in the garbage before opening the cabinet and looking for the right antibiotic. "Have any plans tonight?" Jean asked as she pulled out the bottle she was looking for before counting out the correct dosage to give to Kitty. She then placed the antibiotic pills into an empty pill bottle before moving back towards Kitty.

"Not really…" Kitty responded with a shrug, "I'll probably spend the night resting and watching TV".

"Sounds like a good plan. Best thing for you right now is to rest, drink plenty of fluids…and…" Jean trailed off as she handed Kitty the medication, "…be sure to take these pills with food and water—3 times a day until you've finished the whole bottle" Jean finished with a comforting smile.

"Whatever you say Doc…" Kitty replied, her eyes avoiding Jean's as she reached out for the bottle.

As Kitty's hand touched the bottle, her fingers accidently touched Jean's, who flinched at the contact while Kitty just smirked.

"That wasn't funny" Jean said quickly, thinking that the girl had done that on purpose to annoy her.

"I didn't do anything" Kitty replied quickly, her eyes glaring at Jean for daring to accuse her of something.

"Why don't I believe you? You do have a history of playing games" Jean responded coldly, not really wanting to start another fight with Kitty, but also not willing to let Kitty get away with anything.

Kitty snorted, rolled her eyes, and then moved so that she could get off of the table—but unfortunately for her, Jean moved in front of the girl to stop her from escaping.

"What are you doing?" Kitty asked with a twinge of annoyance.

"I am really not in the mood for this, Kitty. So if you want to start another spat with me…then at least have the guts to not run away" Jean sneered. Clearly, her blood pressure had not yet settled since the events of the camping trip combined with her spat with Scott had yet to leave her system.

Kitty snorted, her eyes locking with Jean in a deadly staring contest. "I'm not doing anything, Jean. All I want is to leave and go back to my room. If anyone is trying to 'start' something…clearly it's you because I haven't said anything to warrant this sort of behavior from you." Kitty replied in her defense, unwilling to let Jean intimidate her.

Jean moved dangerously close to the younger girl, who was merely sitting on the table looking up at Jean calmly. Kitty's composer took a turn for the worst though, when she watched as Jean's hands placed themselves on either side of her, and her face was inching closer and closer to Kitty's.

"Back away, Jean" Kitty stated.

The young girl could feel Jean's energy, breath, and scent move closer and closer. Kitty wanted nothing more but for the doctor to stop causing the feeling of sexual frustration, anticipation, and tingly pleasure from causing agonizing pressure to form in her lower body. The heat and pools of emotional mixed feelings were driving the girl crazy, and she could tell that her failing composer was what Jean was currently feeding on.

"Only if you stop baiting me" Jean answered, her face just inches from Kitty's. "The stop being so sensitive…" Kitty replied softly as she tried to inch away from Jean's face. Jean just smirked, her eyes burning holes through the younger girl in front of her. The tension was palpable, and it was up to someone to break away from this heated moment. Luckily, it was Jean who finally decided that she had enough with the intimidation tactics, and after a minute more of relishing the advantage she had over Kitty, she promptly turned away.

"I'm leaving" Kitty announced with a heavy sigh. She pushed herself off of the lab table and moved towards the door leading out of the lab. And as the doors to the lab opened, Kitty stopped at the doorway, pausing slightly before turning her head in Jean's direction to utter her next words.

"By the way…the next time you have a big fight with Scott…do myself and everyone else a huge favor by not taking it out on us. It's not our fault you wasted 12 years of your love life with a pestilent child." And with that said, Kitty walked out into the hall, leaving a visibly stunned Jean to gawk after her.


End file.
